Don't you just love your clients? After all, without them you wouldn't have a house cleaning business! But I'll bet there are a select few clients that you can think of that are difficult to deal with. In fact they may be SO difficult you have to wonder if they're worth keeping!
Warning signs of difficult house cleaning clients
The first signs are those you get before you even start cleaning for them. One such clue are the prospects that only want phone quotes. These people are just price shopping; looking for the cheapest service available. You don't want to target these types of accounts because those looking for the cheapest price are not likely to be concerned about the value they can get from a reputable service.
If you've identified a price shopper, don't negotiate or low-ball your price because you may not be able to make a profit. If you take on an account like this what usually happens is, the quality level drops because you're trying to get the cleaning done faster in order to squeeze out a profit. Your reputation is at stake, and a poor level of service can affect how you are perceived in the marketplace.
Another warning sign is a prospect who has contracted with several other cleaning services before hiring your company. If a prospect reveals that they have used other cleaning services before, find out why they switched. They could be a price shopper, or they might just be too picky and never satisfied no matter who they hire. Who canceled -- the client or the cleaning service? What was the reason? Personality clashes? Not happy with the quality of service? There is usually some reason this happens, so be careful when deciding to take on these clients.
Once you have an agreement and start cleaning, there are other signs to look for. You may get that person who is just never satisfied with anything. They may have the cleanest house possible, but they are never happy. These chronic complainers take a lot of time and energy, so being able to identify them early on and "fire" them is important. The longer you take to realize they're not a good fit, the harder it will be to get rid of them. Similarly, there are those customers who want something different done every time you come in. These people are difficult to have as clients, since so much of what we do relies on systems and repetitiveness. "Special requests" hinder those efforts, causing an increase in labor hours and a corresponding decrease in profits.
An additional warning sign to look for are those customers who pay late. If they are paying late early on in your relationship, chances are this will continue. Are you able to put up with late payments? Cash flow is always an issue in the cleaning business, since so much of our costs are for labor. Regardless of whether the customer pays or not, you still need to make your payroll and other expenses. Can you even do this and do you want to deal with the anxiety of wondering when you will get paid? Identifying this early on in your relationship will prevent grief down the road.
Clients who like to put down their prior cleaning service should also be a red flag. There are obviously legitimate reasons to fire one service and hire another, but when a customer keeps bad-mouthing their old service, look out! You may be the next on their list if they choose to let you go at some future date. Getting rid of a bad reputation in the marketplace can be difficult, so anything you can do to avoid from that happening in the first place is obviously a good thing.
The bottom line is it may be necessary to turn down a new prospect or "fire" certain clients who are not worth the effort to keep them. It comes down to this: if it takes too much time and energy to keep them, then don't. Some might say it is foolish to turn away work, but problem clients require too much time. Use that time to obtain new customers and retain your "good clients".
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Copyright myhousecleaningbiz.com. All Rights Reserved
Jean Hanson helps owners of Residential and Commercial cleaning companies build a more profitable and successful cleaning business through her online community at myhousecleaningbiz.com and TheJanitorialStore.com. Jean is also the host of the popular Web TV show CleaningBiz.tv and author of the newsletter Trash Talk and House Cleaning Profit Tips.- sign up today!