Latest / Cleaning Business Life / CBL EP 170 Red Flag Clients Are Not Lessons — They’re Liabilities

Transcript

CBL EP 170 Red Flag Clients Are Not Lessons — They’re Liabilities · Cleaning Business Life

• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome everyone.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Clean Business Life Podcast.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: I am your co-host, Amy Runco, and this is the founder and the host of Clayton Business Life Podcast, Jenna Miller.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: Woohoo! Hey! Today we're gonna talk about um red flag clients are not lessons.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh their liabilities, you guys.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: So uh we've all taken on a client because we've needed the money, only to only realize later that we're like they cost more to clean their home than to actually take them on.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: We did a panic, a panic hire.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: That it's it cost more money, it cost more emotionally than it did the actual monetary exchange that happened.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And when people take up too much space in your head, it can be exhausting by the end of the day.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: And we've all we've all had them.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: I can, I can name, I can spotlight certain individuals over my 15 years in the industry that have just they they just suck you dry.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: We've been we, you know, we've had people where the you're it's like a therapy session.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, I should have got paid more than the 200 bucks.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Where it's just like they just trauma dump all over you, and you're like, oh my God, that's why headphones are popular, right?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: But um, but today we're gonna talk about red flag clients, how to spot them, how to handle them, and whether you should take them on at all.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: A red flag client isn't is not someone having a bad day, is is not someone having normal questions, is not someone who values communication, a red flag client is someone who uses you as their therapist, as I just mentioned, is disrespectful before you even start.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot I we see a lot of that in the groups.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, Jamie's gonna give us lots of examples.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: A red flag client is negotiating your price immediately.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: So you give them a price and they immediately go, I can't afford that.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Can you lower that?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: And you then you end up regretting it.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: A red flag client is avoiding your onboarding process.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: They tick, they tell you, like, stick this where the sun doesn't shine.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: We're just gonna do it my way, or you know, or or you're just not gonna get my business.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then you ultimately agree, and then you end up regretting it.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: I've I I had one in December.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think a red flag client is resistant to your systems and wants you to clean a certain way, like cleaning the whole house, but you don't have to mop the house, even though we get water everywhere.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Or a red flag client is also emotionally chaotic.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: How many of you had one of those?
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Me, yeah, yeah.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think we all have, and then the the longer that you're in business, you're going to, you're, you're going, there's no doubt about it, you're going to run into this.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: But we are gonna help you today spot some of those early warning signs.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: We so let's break it down into categories.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna pricing red flags.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: That seems too high.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: How many clients have you ever heard?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: They're always telling you, oh, well, my last cleaner didn't charge that.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: Whenever I said that my minimum price was 187, somebody came back to me and told me on the phone, they was like, that's not right.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: It should only be about$30 an hour.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: They told me that.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, well, who did I think in my head?
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you really want to stick it to them.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: But as I've said in all the groups, as much as we want to stick, we can sit there and boo-hoo all we want inside the groups.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: I support it, I embrace you guys.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: I but we always got to remain professional.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: They're always asking for discounts before even booking.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like, right owners are the worst for this.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yeah, because they can always bring you all that business, right?
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: Isn't that what they say?
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: We'll all we'll bring you so much business that you and it it you guys, it doesn't happen.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't happen, and if it does, there it's always the crappiest, like you're polishing a turd.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Seriously.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, yeah, yeah.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to polish the but my hand is gonna fall through the floorboard trying to wipe wipe down the bottom of your your toilet.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: They're avoiding putting a card on file, absolutely not.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: Once you grow and get bigger, that to me is a red flag.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: I have one client that is a legacy client, they'll never be up to market value.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: Shannon talks about this all the time.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: They just won't.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: I've given little price increases here and there, but not to where they should be.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: And it's the only one client, and even my bookkeeper, Erica, says, you gotta get rid of that Venmo.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: Having too many places where you accept money is actually gonna end up costing you money.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: But whenever they avoid, they're avoiding putting a card on file.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Again, this person has been with me for four years, and they still Venmo me.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's the only one.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: But what that's all great until it's not great.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it'll go on, it'll go on until it's not great, and then that'll be the that'll be the end of it.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: But what what all this translates to, you guys, is they don't re respect or value you.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like a solo cleaner.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: And there's nothing, absolutely nothing wrong.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: As a matter of fact, I I was sitting there talking about it the other day.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: Solo cleaners can are probably better than a company because you know that you don't have anything to deal with.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: You you you clean a certain type, you're you guys are the ones that should be charging the most.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Right, because you can only take on so many houses.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: So your uh your schedule is more even more valuable than ours.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: So you should be actually charging more than what we're charging because that spot on your scale, your schedule is worth more.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's worth a lot to us, but it's worth even more to you because if that person backs out, you're screwed, you don't get any extra income.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: We can sometimes slide us a house in, but you guys can't.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why I strongly encourage everyone to charge top dollar.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I I sometimes I get resistance.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I just want to be fair.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, there's no fairness in business.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, and that's cut dry, you guys.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: That that it is you gotta change this mindset that this is a business, and and these red like, let's process some red flags.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: They refuse to provide their full address, right?
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: I had that yesterday.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, what do you want my address?
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: What why did you call me for?
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: I look what fresh off the book from Phoenix.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: I will say that there are a lot of elderly clients, tech savvy, they're afraid to even give you their email address, and it's like, what?
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: They don't give you a gate code.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'll give it to you when you arrive and you ring the bell.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: No, right.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: They don't un and complete their intake form.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: We have on Jobber, shout out to Jobber, we have an intake form on Jobber that ask, you know, square footage, upstairs, downstairs, carpeted, hardwood floors, all these little things matter.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: Time little bitty things like that.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: If there's an upstairs, that's extra time.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta run up, gotta carry all your gear up, you gotta do stuff.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: If they're not filling that out, we can't give a proper quote.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: We we can't um uh I love this one.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: Can we just skip that part and uh maybe you can do the ovens?
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: How that one happened last month.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: And as as hard as it was for me to resist, I did resist giving my whole, you know that I have to charge enough.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: I have real W-2 employees that I have to pay fair, but I really wanted to let this client know that they told me I'm paying$130 an hour for your services per month.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, You're paying really I am wanted to tell her, well, you get two cleaners because your house is huge for only two people and a dog living there, but you know, you you just you want to, but you always got to remain professional, right?
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: As tempting as it is, it is it's so hard.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: I I I wanted to there was somebody in the group the other day that I just uh total air hugs to that person, and especially if you listen to this podcast, I seen your pain.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: You were very valid in what you're saying, but whenever it comes to telling your clients off like that, just remain professional.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's hard.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: It always comes back to bite you in the butt, and what will happen is there's because it once it's on the internet, it never leaves.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: You'll have 50 million people screenshot it, and then one day something will happen, and they'll want to all rip you from your your your throne, right?
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well, look what she said in 2012, right?
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: You're like it was through text and yeah, you know, people will you our community, community groups, our own little community groups, people talk amongst themselves.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's done privately with people that you like, know, and trust.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: You you but you hope, right?
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right, right.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: So then there's personality red flags, like when you get there and they immediately go into how crappy the other cleaning company was and how they didn't do this, and how they didn't do that, and how they they didn't do this other thing, and you're just like, wow, well, I we don't do any of these things either, right?
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like you guys have all heard me talk about the guy with the bongs, right?
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: This is before it was legal here in Arizona.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: We had this whole tiff for tat over the phone over whether my girls were gonna wash his bongs.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: There were nine bongs in the house.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: All he did was smoke pot all day long.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: And at the time for us to even touch it was actually a felony.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Well, my last house cleaner did it.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, but your last house cleaner isn't here anymore.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, those, and then he just kept going on and on and on about this poor lady who was not there to defend herself.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's clearly a red flag.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Oversharing drama or trauma dumping, telling you way too much information about their spouse, about their kids, about their kids' drama, about whatever's going on with them personally.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's too it's a business transaction.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: You are not a therapist, right?
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and you know it's hard because you know, you you have clients for a long period of time, and then you're like you share birthdays, and then this happens, and then that happens, and your dog dies, and then you share that moment, and it just kind of creeps in there, right, Jamie?
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, no, it absolutely does.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: You you I definitely probably did that in the beginning, but uh whenever I first started, you you feel like, oh, this is my friend, and furthest thing from the truth, they you can be friendly, you have to learn again the business mind your mindset needs to change about how you look at this industry, or not at this industry, how you're running a business.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's not even about this industry.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think I don't know, gosh, you're plumber, you know, right?
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: You you can Shannon can speak up more on that.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: Her husband is one, and I I don't foresee everybody you know dumping all their information over to him all the time.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: No, yeah, micromanaging during the walkthrough.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: How many people, how many times have we had people just over your shoulder?
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: I I I I seen it this morning in one of the groups.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: I can't remember, it don't matter, but somebody was just literally over their shoulder.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like, are you gonna get that?
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: What are you gonna get that?
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: Can you re-wipe that?
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's a red flag, you guys.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: If somebody is that's just one instance.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: Gosh, whenever they're you know, somebody's an example of that.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: Here, let me give you a good example.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we all talk about the paper towel tests, right?
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: The paper towel test is an FU with a big middle finger, and it's you you just and typically the paper towel test always happens with a person who has four kids, four dogs, and a husband.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: Not sure why.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: And they have a white, white, white kitchen, and they'll go up there and they'll wipe a paper towel across the floor and go, This is not clean.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: And you're like, dude, you're never gonna pass the paper towel test ever, right?
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: And in reality, you're never gonna, regardless if it was two adults and one doggy, you're never gonna pass the paper towel test because guess what?
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: You live in your home.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: The only people I ever expect to pass the paper tail test is the operating room at the hospital.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: I pray to God that they that they passed the paper towel test because they're sanitizing everything in your home, in your natural environment.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: You will never pass the paper towel test.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: I think a long time ago, I may I may need to put that back in there.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: I people have backed off on that, but putting that in your terms and conditions, your contract, whatever, should definitely be in there that you will not.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm speaking to everybody in this industry, you will not ever be able to pass a paper towel test.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not fair whenever they do that.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's very condescending, like everything else is clean, but then you went to the floor with a paper, a white paper towel.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: With my client had or previous client, had five shisus.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: And like I and I remember this was in the beginning.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: I went, I I even screenshot the conversation, sent it over to Shannon, and was like, How do I respond to this?
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what what I it makes you feel like the worst cleaner ever.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, of course, she had to talk me.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: Shannon talked me down my this was four years ago.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even probably don't even remember that conversation, but I do because it's like you internalize, like, oh my gosh.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, you'll be the next villain in the story.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely, and then testing before they hire you, like they want to know the steps of cleaning a toilet, or they want to know the steps of how you're gonna clean their kitchen, or they want to know the you know, the the how to do the living room or what about the notes?
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: What about the notes that they leave you?
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: And you do this notes, you do this first.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: I we 15 pages of information.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, oh no, it's not gonna happen.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: I do this my own way.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: Here's your paperwork back.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I have I had one.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: I we I was like, woohoo! I we got this really great account, so I thought.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: And it was like, oh, this is gonna be a nightmare client.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: I definitely I was telling Shannon, this was a two days ago.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: I made a list of some of the things that you guys missed.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: And the list That was shocking.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: The list was like, wait, these are things that we don't do.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like it literally says on my onboarding that we don't do, especially those plastic blinds, the most that we'll do is dust them.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: They wanted them wet wiped, and it was those little cheap plastic, you know, plastic blinds, and and then I walked into the bathroom, and it looked like maybe somebody went like I I don't know, but it was a little speck on top of the toilet seat, and I was just like, okay, and I just felt oh, and then he forgot to show them oh, this that that one's my fault.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't show them that there was a microwave there, it was behind the hidden microwave.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: It was behind a closed closet, and I was like, Oh, I was and and that was it.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: That was that was it.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, oh, and a spot down on the bottom of a door, he was like, Yeah, I was able to take it.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh which I get it.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think there was also an item, too, that was a high value item that he wanted them to dust.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Is that am I correct on that one?
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think it was record player.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: Now, mind you, this person was very in the music industry, right?
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and very much so.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm thinking, uh this is Humboldt County.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, and but at the same time, I'm thinking this is gonna be a great client for this thing from the truth.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: I I was like, yeah, we don't really touch those things.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: The most that we can do is feather dust it because it's a very, very insurance will cover it.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: Right, I remember and I guess the way he made all the cleaners feel like just over them, just like just start in this room over here first.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: Please be very, very careful because those play those items are irreplaceable.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I guess he was home the whole time and walking around with his headset and checking everything.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: I guess maybe it's stained, but I did see them over here scrubbing away.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was just over the top, over the red flag, and instantly I was like, nope, you'll never get on my schedule ever again.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: And you almost want to prepare other cleaners out there in this area, like, hey, you guys, such and such, you know, in this area, be careful, you know.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: And if you do do his house or their house, he's married, if you do do their house, be prepared.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: Be prepared.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: This is weird.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: I had someone one time who we this is when I was doing in-person bids.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: I walked in and it was in the nicer neighborhood of our town.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: And the woman goes, stand right here in the circle.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: It was the circle carpet, and do not step outside of the circle carpet until I come to get you.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, What?
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I stood there and my appointment was at like 11, and I didn't, I didn't like 11:15.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody came to the front.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like shouting.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I I don't, he had an unusual name.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, Mr.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: Fitzgibbons, and then there's nobody in the house, it's just me.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm like, I'm am I on camera?
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: Is this like gonna be, you know, America's film video?
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: Mr.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: Fitzgibbons, where are you?
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: I my appointment was at 11, right?
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: 1122.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: He comes strolling out and and she she's MIA.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if she was an assistant or girlfriend or whatever.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Oh yeah, I forgot about you.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, dude, you have five minutes.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: I have another appointment.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like, quickly wrote up his bin.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: I just left.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: He called me eight times to like get me back.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, nope, you're you're a bad customer.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: So how how do we control that?
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: You just leave after a certain with that situation.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: I should have just said and I've had to do it a couple of times where they're on the phone fending finishing the conversation.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: I wait for no one.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'll wait five minutes.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: But if your phone call is more important than me coming, driving with my time all the way over to your location, that tells me you have no respect for me.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're gonna treat me that way, how are they gonna treat your crew?
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and exactly.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: Will they not let you go 1101?
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I feel horrible that I I even put them in that situation because it's like, but it's a learning experience.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: I definitely will.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: They are 64 off of my is it 64 or 64?
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: 86.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: I think you're looking for 86.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, what's 64?
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: 86 is restaurant.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: They're 87.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: I oh boy, 64.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: 78910.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: So those were some definite red flags.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: So they demanded custom exceptions.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: The house.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they they were texting outside the business hours before onboarding.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: So those people, that's definitely a red flag.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you have someone who obsessively texts you at 10 o'clock at night and then gets mad at you, like I had one the other day and it was an accidental text, and she's like, Why aren't you responding back to me?
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, dude, we already established you texted the wrong person.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: Why would I respond back to you?
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: What's wrong?
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: What's going on?
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: What's going on?
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then trying to bypass any of your policies and blatantly disregarding clear boundaries.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: You have to have clear boundaries.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm an advocate for having them because if you don't have any boundaries, people will just run all over, they'll scribble all over you and go, okay, I'm all done now.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for your time.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: And just on you.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: So and they want special treatment.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: Cleaning text deserves special treatment.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: They're the face, they are they are the face of this business.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: They are, oh, I just I and even past, even if if we've left on bad, I am so thankful and grateful for everybody that it's like, wow, you want to come work for me?
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's just they do, they do deserve special treatment.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: Why owners still take them and the hard truth moment?
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's because you're in survival mode, right?
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: There's cash flow pressure.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, why else do you take on difficult claims?
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, well, I'll just take it on, it'll be temporary, which we've all done.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: I've done it.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: It'll it'll be a quick, it'll be easy.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: My mentality in my mind, when I have a difficult situation, I'm like, it's gonna be easy.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: Every time.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: Every time I say it's gonna be easy, it's never easy.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, what was I thinking?
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: Why did I think that?
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: Or they if there's guilt about saying no.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: I actually have no guilt about saying no.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: I say no all the time.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um fear of an empty schedule.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: This plays a lot into the newbies.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: I see this a lot.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to give a price increase.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't given a price increase in eight years, but yet the client has a brand new Corvette delivered every single year, goes on vacation to Capri in Italy every year, and goes on Viking cruises every year.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then it's the old people-pleasing wiring.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: We are at we as women, uh, there are guys here too.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I know you guys listen to the show, and I'm not trying to distract from your value or your worth, but women are hardwired to people please.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's just the way it is in society.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: And the more people pleasing you give, the more you you play into that.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it's a hard habit.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying you don't you can't not do it, but it's you slip into it really easy because you just want to make everything all smooth like peanut butter, right?
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and when things are not smooth like peanut butter, then it's like it's just like, oh yeah, that was so uncomfortable.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: And then one rank flight client will exhaust your text and you like that that client the other day.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, they'll create reclaims every single time, though.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: Every God, I can't tell you how many times, like you when you start to go back repeatedly to one client because of like minute there was a hair in the bathtub in the downstairs bathroom that nobody uses, and I found it.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's because hair floats in the air when we're here and then it settles back down.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: They'll leave bad reviews to retaliate because, or they'll threaten to sue to take your business down because they have nothing better to do with ourselves.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: They'll distract leadership focus because all of your attention as a leader is gonna be sucked into their world, and you're like, How did I get here?
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: How did this person slide underneath the door?
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: I always say that.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then they're gonna drain you emotionally.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: So when you have someone, and I I reference this and I've said it a million and one times, I bring up Dan Kennedy because he is the godfather of ad copy, and this is really crass and crude, but it gets the point across.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: Dan Kennedy has this saying that if you are doing business with him and he wakes up three mornings in a row and they are you are not sleeping together, then it's time for you to go.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: You're taking up too much space in his head, is what that equivocates to.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: And if I come up with a better story, I will.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: But this one, whenever what is that?
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's the fish and the family visiting longer than three days.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's right.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: Something along those lines.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: So that's that's a story to remember.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: You can look it up in his books, and he talks about giving back an like I think it was like a$78,000 check at the time, because this one client who was a one-on-one client was just too much.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: He woke up three mornings in a row, she took up too much space in his head, and he's like, it's just not worth it.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have a client that is just too much space, it's just not worth it to you and your business.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: And think of what it's doing to your cleaning tax because they all see it, they won't say anything, but they see it.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, exactly.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, you're we're not in the business of rescuing adults here, you're right.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're that is not what we're in this business for, and take heat on some of these red flags that we are telling you about.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: Should you ever take a red flag client?
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_01: Here's the strategic answer.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: Excuse me.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: My allergies are out of control.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: You're brand new and need experience.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna have to walk through that threshold if you're brand new, you guys, and you're just tuning in to the cleaning business life podcast.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna have to walk through that threshold just again uh, like, oh, I don't I I don't want that to happen to me ever again.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: You you're going to have to we can sit here and tell you till we're blue in the face.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_01: Keep asking those questions in the in the in the uh groups.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: Those questions, I don't care.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: They're not all stupid.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: They're not.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: There are no stupid questions.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's how you learn.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, making mistakes is how you learn.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: I've made a lot of mistakes.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's how I've learned so much.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: But it's temporary cash stabilization.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, you can control the boundaries tightly.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: Sort of so now if you're booked, your team is stretched, your pricing is firm, you are in scaling mode.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: Growth requires filtration, CEO energy is selective.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: All right, I mean that.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: What to do if all if you're already took them?
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: This is important.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: You have three options.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: Reset them, recommunicate your policies, reconfirm your pricing, require a walkthrough.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: Add a card on file.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: Professionally, always calm, as hard as it may be, and firm.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: Firm is hard.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: Firm is hard.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: But being in this business, you have to learn how to pull up your big girl panties or your undies, and you gotta do it.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta put those boundaries up.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: You contain them, move them to slower schedules, require prepayment before you even step onto the job anymore, with their credit card on file, because we've already established that.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: We're going to make sure that you the second that your cleaning day is to arrive, we're precharging before we even go to the client's house.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: Remove the customization and tighten communication window.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: So you're gonna eliminate your exposure.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I can say I've had Jamie on the phone where she's been at a job or their her crew has arrived at the job and they're like, she's like, Mr.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: Smith, you haven't paid your thing.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: You need to pay, or we're gonna leave.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_00: And they have paid.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: Or she's gotten to the job and the job is actually required more because they said they were gonna do something and they didn't, and they've had to pay more.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I guarantee that they paid her because they wanted to finish the job.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: So don't be afraid to do that either.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_01: You yeah, you can renegotiate, but again, that takes practice, and also one of the things is being firm.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta you can't sugarcoat things around here.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_01: I know as people pleasers gearing this towards women, men.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_01: I just hang on.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: We are people pleasers, and the people pleaser in us tiptoe around what we want to say.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_01: You got you gotta learn.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: Have chat, have chat GPT give you some ideas of how to respond.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it'll give you a response that you're like, oh, I didn't even think of it like that.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it makes it so much easier.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna release them.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: Number three, release them.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_01: This may not be the best fit for our company.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_01: I I just had to do that the other day.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_01: We wish you the best in finding a provider that aligns with your expectations.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: No emotions, no debate, no apology.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's standing firm.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: You're you're you're in control then.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: You're in control of the situation, and you're in control of how people honestly treat you.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_01: You're you're you're they murdering remember this.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_01: You they call you.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: Remember that.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so there is protecting your team from red flag clients.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: So protecting your team, your golden unicorns is how I like to refer to them.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: They they really are.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, um, and that comes first and foremost.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, the clients pay for everything, but it's the golden unicorns who make the money.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: Never make the techs absorb disrespect.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_00: So sometimes during team meetings, which should be done quarterly, you can you can kind of role-play over what disrespect looks like because sometimes people don't know what that is.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_00: We've had different scenarios come up where like the cleaning tech was cursed at, or derogatory statement was made, or an inappropriate touch, or you know, just stuff that just has happened that no one said anything.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then when you find out, it just makes you angry and fire comes out, right?
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_00: Never there.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: Never throw a team under the bus.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_00: So and I had this happen.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_00: I was at a restaurant that I frequent here locally, and she had a problem to employee, and she proceeded to tell me the dirty tea over the yeah, publicly while other people were listening.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_00: And this poor individual was wanting to get their lace paycheck, and she was like, it wasn't that big of a deal.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: It was only 500 bucks, but to the employee, it was a big deal because it was 500 bucks, and it made me think a little less of her, right?
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_00: I I really liked and respected this individual.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then when she did that, it made me think a lot less of her.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: I love this person, but I, you know, it was like, oh, red flag, right?
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_00: Don't it doesn't matter, you just don't discuss those things publicly.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_00: She could have done it.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't have minded had she told me privately, I wouldn't have thought any less of it.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: But she did, she chose to do it publicly, and I thought that was done in bad taste.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: Never let one client control culture.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have structure that says that we're gonna be off, say you work six days a week and everybody's closed on Sundays, like Chick-fil-A or Hobby Lobby, and and that's your culture.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: Don't let one person go, well, I'll give you all this business if you guys open up for me on Sundays, right?
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_00: You can, if you wanted to, you could find somebody if they wanted to, but don't change your whole profile just for this individual who waves the shiny carrot in front of you.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_00: It it just messes up everything in the long run, and it's really it ends up being an inconvenience.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if you tolerate red flags, your best employees will quietly leave.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_00: And trust me, you have invested a lot of money.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: Don't let your cleaning text leave because of it.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_01: A lot.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_01: And a very worth it, especially oddly experience that I've gained learning to lead and manage teams, learning to train.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_01: So a CEO filter system preventative strategy.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_01: Here's how to avoid them.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_01: Require a full intake form, preferably on your website.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there you go.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_01: Require a card on file.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody gets on the schedule, except for that one client, like I told nobody gets on the schedule anymore without a card on file.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_01: It is not going to happen.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_01: No pricing negotiation.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_01: Where I'm at, because I live on the coast, in a very rural area, mind you.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_01: My population, the town that I live in is 3,000 people.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_01: The town of Fortuna is population, what, 12,000 people?
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_01: That don't matter.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm in a rural area, and I my minimum is 187.50 to for any services to start.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's because I have employees, WTUs, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, all that great stuff.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_01: And you really want to almost tell all the clients, like, that is the reason why, but don't don't do that.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_01: 48-hour cancellation policy.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_01: We have in our contract that they have signed, that they have put their credit card on file.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_01: As a matter of fact, I have somebody who does not ever want to lose their lose their spot once a month on their on the calendar.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: They forget to tell us that they're out of town, you know, and that happens often with our monthlies.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: They forget, but this client has been trained enough to where I it's like, well, I just go ahead and charge my card.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_01: I know it's the full price, and it is the full price because your cleaning tax have was relying on that work to get paid.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, they're you're really relying on those hours, and it's like like Shannon said, it's not to stick it to anybody, and that's not the intent.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_01: It is we have a whole business here to run.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_01: So making sure that that 48-hour cancellation policy, our policy, is we do charge the full amount, and this is uh not for everybody, it's for those that do it so we're not talking about kids that are sick.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_01: Crap happens, right?
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_01: We're talking about these people that oh, I'm on I'm on a cruise right now.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_01: I forgot totally about that.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_01: Walkthroughs are required for one-time cleans.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_01: Clear refund policy, re-clean within 24 hours only.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_01: That is our refund policy.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_01: We don't give any monies back, we only refund by doing a reclean, and it has to be brought to our attention within 24 hours of the the cleaning date.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_01: So if does that sound familiar?
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_00: You already operate this way, and press chat GPT helps us out a little bit with these shows.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's not rigid, that's table.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_00: Presca tiny clean is sitting in your hands that the cat has been out of the bag.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_01: Is that really does that sound familiar whenever you're talking about talking to Chat GPT?
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_00: So that is hilarious.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't even catch the emotional layer.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_01: Most cleaning businesses are built by women, most, especially the residential.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_01: We know that the janitorial, it's so funny, isn't that?
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_01: I find that hilarious.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_01: I am in the commercial industry as well, and I have found that having a male work there, I push him out to front and center for my canvassing because but we're talking about residential majority of businesses are built by winner women.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of us come from trauma.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_01: We've learned to over-accommodate.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_01: We just want to make the client happy, you know.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_01: You just or you're so like scared.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like, if I don't make them happy, they're gonna end up dropping me.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna lose all this money.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_01: Not realizing you guys, you can fill that spot, right?
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_01: You know, learned to earn approval.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_01: Red flag clients test that old wiring.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_01: Boundaries are not mean, they are leadership.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_00: They are very true, very true.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_00: You don't grow by taking on everyone, you grow by filtering.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_00: And as you grow in segments, depending on what stage you're in, you will actually start to filter out a lot of people.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_00: And the right clients will respect your time, they'll respect your systems, they'll refer others like them because they uh like attracts like red flag clients are not lessons, they are signals.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_00: And this concludes that's the breakdown, you guys.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_01: Be looking for red flag clients.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely if you guys have gotten any value out of this, we would love for you to leave us a comment down at the bottom, ask us any questions.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_01: We will love to go through them and maybe we'll do a QA if you leave us some comments down at the bottom of these podcasts.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_01: And as always, thank you for joining us.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_00: Again, we're still looking for one more sponsor if that's something you're interested in, and we're very niche cleaning business podcasts.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_00: Please reach out to Jamie and myself.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_00: We'd love to chat.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: Take care.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_00: Bye.