And here we are, at the interesting part of this series. What do I, your friendly neighborhood cleaning tech, expect from YOU, my client?
Honestly, it's not a lot. I think some of it is stuff a lot of clients never think of, though. If this is all obvious to you, then I salute you. But if it's not, don't feel bad. It's not like you could hire a cleaning tech for the first time in your life and your brain's going to instinctively know exactly what you should do. If humans were that impressive, we'd never have to stress over job interviews.
1. Payment
I know, sounds obvious, right? But it's at the top of the list, because why does anybody go into business? To make money. The main things to keep track of are as follows:
-Don't let your checks bounce
-Don't forget to pay your tech
-Don't argue over their prices
Your tech should deposit the check in a timely fashion (this falls under 'punctuality' from the previous post), but there should be money in your bank to cover said check. If it's a one-person establishment, like mine is, feel free to ask them to hold off until the end of the week to deposit the check if you need another payday in there. Full-blown companies don't have that kind of flexibility, so bear that in mind. And please don't ask your tech to hold your check for longer than the end of the week. She needs her moneys, yo.
Since most techs clean while their clients are at work for the day, payment is usually handled by leaving the check or cash where the tech will find it when he or she shows up. This is awesome, if you remember to do it. Set yourself a phone reminder, and leave the payment out the night before so you don't forget about it in the rush of leaving for the day. And if you do forget, don't stress. Just call your tech and offer to drop it in the mail or PayPal it to her or something like that. A paid tech is a happy tech.
And finally, on the subject of payment, your tech sets their prices based on lots of factors. Whether or not you feel like paying that amount is actually lower on the list than you'd think - underneath things like covering taxes, and gas to get to your place, and how much they'd like to eat that month. Their prices shouldn't be exhorbitant (get a quote from your local Merry Maids for a good definition of that word), but bear in mind that they're spending at least half the day working on your house, and if it's a small company, taxes and bills come out before they can spend your check on tacos and new shoes (which is TOTALLY what I spend my checks on, just so you know). So what I'm saying is, unless the prices are really horrendous, try and see it from their point of view. A tech's gotta eat. If you can't afford their prices, let them find a client who can instead of trying to talk them out of a fifth of their weekly pay while doing the same sweaty, dusty labor.
2. Communication
This one is massively important, and a lot of people who have never hired a cleaning service before, drop the ball in a big way.
All your tech does is what you want them to do. You have to talk to them about specific things you want done. You have no right to be angry over them not taking the trash out, if you didn't mention that you'd like that done and show them where the trash bags are kept and where you want the trash taken. How am I supposed to know where you keep your trash bags if you don't tell me? If your answer to this is, 'Well of COURSE they're in the laundry room with the other cleaning supplies, where ELSE would I keep them?' I'm gonna need you to get some perspective on your existence for a second. Not everybody lives like you do. And NOBODY BUT YOU knows how you want your house cleaned. You have to tell us. I could, in theory, spend twenty minutes rummaging through all your cabinets and drawers and pantries, looking for the bags, but would you really want that? Or would you rather just show me where the bags are and keep me from needing to go through your stuff?
Like I said in the previous post, your tech should have a specific list of things he or she will do when they come over to clean for you. You should ask for it, and they should provide it for you. If something's not listed that you want done, don't assume they're going to do it because it's obvious to you (we all know what assuming does, after all). Ask them if they'll do that thing. If it's a big thing, like cleaning out the fridge or oven, they may charge extra, and that's the tech's prerogative. She knows what her time is worth, and will adjust her prices according to what you want done. If you tell her what it is you want done.
On the other end of this, if your tech doesn't do such a great job, telling them what (SPECIFICALLY) she did wrong and giving her a chance to fix it, is another aspect of communication that a lot of clients miss. It's entirely possible that your tech was having a lousy day and forgot to clean the mirror. If you bring it up, I bet she'll even apologize and offer you a discount on your next clean. But if you don't bring it up and you just fire the tech, she's going to think you're a raging harpy for firing her for no apparent reason. Don't jump to the conclusion that your tech is lazy - find out what happened. Actually dealing with the situation is a lot more productive than just summarily firing people who don't dust your knicknacks properly.
Okay, I'm done on that one for now. Oh, I have much more to write about clients who don't communicate, but we have one more point of order to go over here, and I don't want to get more verbose than usual.
3. Clear Surfaces
Yes, guys (because it's always guys, and I can't figure out why), you have to clean before the cleaning service comes over. But it's not actual 'cleaning' that we need you to do. We need you to pick up. Shove the laundry in the closet. Do the dishes, or at least get them out of the sink and into the dishwasher. Stick all your bottles, tubes, pots, cans, spritzers and cups into a basket and stick it in a cabinet in the bathroom. Stack the magazines in one area of the living room, and get your kids to put their toys in the toybox. Your tech is coming over to Clean Your Surfaces, not to pick up after you. That's what a Housekeeper does (oh man, I just got an idea for my next post!), and a Housekeeper is a completely different species from a cleaning tech - Housekeepers get paid a lot more.
You've gotta get your stuff out of the way. If I can't see a surface, I can't clean it, and you're going to be unhappy that I didn't scrub that sink full of laundry. But I'm still not going to shift all your dirty laundry out of the sink, scrub it, then put your laundry back into it. Shove it in a hamper before I come over, or expect it to be left alone.
I'm not saying you have to wipe anything down or scrub anything - that actually IS my job, and I'll be happy to do it. Just get your Stuff out of the way so I can DO said job. It makes my work go by faster, it decreases the risk of me breaking something of yours, and it makes your house actually look clean when I'm finished. If it's not picked up, I can scrub all I want, but you're going to come home and think the place doesn't look clean, because you've still got a hallway full of laundry and Barbie dolls.
So those are the three main things you need to do to keep your tech (and yourself) happy. Obviously, tipping helps, as does sending them a holiday card to let them know they're appreciated, but those are just nice things you can do. The three things up there are crucial to keeping your business relationship with your tech running smoothly. Next time around, we'll talk about the difference between a housekeeper and a cleaning tech, and how not to feel dumb by confusing the two. I think this will help a lot of people set reasonable expectations in their minds regarding those particular jobs, as well. Have a good rest of your week! Next post will come around on Monday.
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