Latest / Cleaning Business Life / CBL EP 169 Client Reset: How to Stop Letting Clients Destroy Your Profit, Staff, and Peace

Transcript

CBL EP 169 Client Reset: How to Stop Letting Clients Destroy Your Profit, Staff, and Peace · Cleaning Business Life

• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to it.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back, everyone.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us at the Cleaning Business Life Podcast.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: I am your co-host, Jamie Runco.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm here with Shannon Miller.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: And today we are going to talk about resetting your clients before they kill your profit and your peace.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Talk about this.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get the tea and all of this.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: So typically you're busy, you're booked, you're quietly resenting certain clients, and this episode is going to be for you.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: We're talking to you guys.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Client reset isn't always about firing people, it's about stopping the slow bleed that's killing your profit and your peace, your mental health, you guys.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: You can take on almost any job, but you don't have to take on every client.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: I love that because that's they can very much can take away your peace of mind.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: It can creep slowly creep into your personal life.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: I know it has mine.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: And this is all due for business, and you need to learn how to get the respect that you guys everybody deserves.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And we do it is just like training a technician, a cleaning tech, you do have to clean or train your clients.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: They don't know.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: There's some but whenever somebody does come from an actual business and know that they're like not getting a good job done.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Those are such great clients.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: They know what they know what the process is.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: They just want what they pay for.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, those are great.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to train them.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: They've been doing it for five years.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: They know that they're gonna get an on my way text from Jobber.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: They they know that they have to have a credit card on file, they know that they have to have a deposit.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: We they know that they we have the we offer every six months a reset of their home for an additional fee.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: There, there's a lot of things that Jamie just announced that she does that has created boundaries in her business so that the expectation is there.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: She knows what the expectation is, the client knows what the expectation is, so there's no gray area.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: When we have conflict, I have found is the client is overexpecting on something that is not reasonable.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: We're just here to remove surface dirt.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: If you need more in-depth cleaning, like when you'll see a lot of clients are like, I want a deep cleaning every single time, I'm like, we don't have a problem doing that, but you're gonna have to pay for a deep cleaning every single time.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want white baseboards throughout the house every single time.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: The only time that it's expected is in the bathrooms, right?
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Because there's toilet paper dust and hair and skin and everything else.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: So these are all things that she just named that are essential for her to run smooth running shifts because that's what you want to provide to your cleaning techs are smooth running shifts.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: You want them to hang around, right?
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: I yes, uh and it does take some finesse sometimes, whenever somebody that I'll I'll take an example, an elderly person that has never has done it all themselves their whole life.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: You just know the generation, you know, like they had nine kids and they did it all, and now they're coming in there with this technology, right?
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: You're coming in there with technology, and you there's some training to go through.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: I have people, I like to deal with the children of the clients, they're more tech savvy and understand.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: And people some I'm gonna tell you, most people want that structure.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: They want to they want that structure of this is what we do.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: I want to be able to see it.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: I want to be able to see it.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: We leave a digital checklist with them every time.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Digital means that I'm on Jobber, and once the job is done, we send it over, and my cleaning technicians check off exactly what they did.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that is like their receipt, their invoice, kind of.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: And to show that I I charge this amount of money for what we did, that was all listed on this receipt, basically.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: And it takes it takes a couple of times before they're like, okay, this is okay, this is how we're doing this.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: It takes a couple of times.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: And once once you get that, boy, it's so nice.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: And those are boundaries.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: You set those boundaries up front.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: It makes you look so professional.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: It does.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: And it prevents clients from being misaligned with your business model.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: And for some clients, they might not, they might not want all of the structure.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: They might like to fly by the seat of your pants, or I'm gonna do this, and I'm gonna do this, and maybe next time I'll do that.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: And that's okay.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're all about providing the same consistency, like McDonald's.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: When you go to McDonald's any area at in any place in the world, with the exception of India, you get a burger made with beef.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's just the way it is.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: In India, they don't eat cows.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: So it's the same thing with Starbucks.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: Starbucks, you know that you can get your special drink at any Starbucks, no matter where you are.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, with uh 20 different employees.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: They always know to make my it might be off just a little bit sometimes.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like you'll you you start realizing, okay, you know, I but you deal with it.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you you you draw back your expectation because it's like, oh, I'm going to a new Starbucks, they don't know me as well there.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: But it's it's exactly how I asked for it, and they make it every single time pretty much the same.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: So you're gonna just make sure that you're not having missile land clients, and how you do that is by having a lot of structure and policies in place.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well mo most of us don't even realize that the damage until we're already burnt out.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Trying trying to go back and fix things constantly, or or you know, uh that takes a toll on you guys.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Emotionally mentally, and and it starts like I said, I brought it this obviously, it's something that's going on, but it it brings it into the your home life, and it's really hard to separate the two, but and it this is not that you failed any.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: If you're feeling like this, you're not failing.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: You uh whenever I I was just telling Shannon this, I think this morning, maybe before we even came on here, about no, it was last night.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, it was last night whenever I was like, you know, we talk all the time.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, clips constantly.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm like, you know, I know myself well enough now that I've been in this business long enough to know that whenever I am like this, I'm I I get a little panicky.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I can even call it out at a certain time of the month, it's always towards the end of the month.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like I am just all over the place and I have no idea, like almost like an imposter syndrome, right?
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like I don't know what I'm doing.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: I have no business being here.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: I cannot like who am I to be on this podcast?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I do not, and and I have every right to be.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: I that that is so such a false narrative, but uh it just it goes with the growth pains.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's whenever you know the uncomfortableness of it all is whenever you know you're growing because you've never been there before, you've never been at this part stage of your business.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: So, of course, you're not gonna know what to do.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: And this is whenever you really need to lean in on this podcast or Shannon or me, because we have been there and I know exactly how you guys are feeling.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Shannon knows exactly whenever I tell her these things, I know she's sitting back thinking she did her job, right?
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: She knows she didn't know.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of times I'm like, oh, Jamie's just going.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: She did her job.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's really nice to know that you have people that have been there in this industry that you can talk to like this.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: But we people who've been in the industry, seasoned people, oftentimes, sometimes someone's really new and they're an expert.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: But find people that you resonate with, that's really important when you're looking for outside help.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: If if we won't go into all the details of all the stuff, exactly find someone that you click with, that's the of the utmost importance.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: I I ask that all the time, especially when working with a new coach.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I want to make sure that our personalities click.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: And we don't necessarily have to have the same belief system, but you want someone that you can get the information from as best you can.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: And then the job is work and the client is relationships.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it really is.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's just the job is the work.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta make sure that you're doing the job.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's just it is a business, and you need to start thinking like a CEO.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: That is, you know, and you can bring on the price and you can systemize the job, but a client, but the client brings expectations, behavior, and energy.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the that's the container that needs to be managed because a lot of times the expectation and the behavior is like it's out of whack, right?
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's sometimes it'll be the energy, like you know, they were supposed to pick up the toys or the laundry or to do the dishes or whatever, but a lot of the times it's the behavior, like someone was it you, Jamie, that showed me the hair in the shower, and it just was like yesterday, you guys.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, then that became a policy, right?
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: That was immediately applied into all of the stuff, and then going forward, that person just now knows that if they don't pick up all the goop of their hair in the shower, they can't leave it for the cleaning tech to clean up.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's just it's not it's not respectful, right?
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: And and to them, they probably didn't think it was a big deal, right?
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Right, and and you know what?
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that it until you go through it, like and we're not talking a little bit of hair, you guys.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: We're talking like it looks like it could have moved, it could have moved.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: She was like, I said, you know, well, I and I, of course, went to Shannon.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, look at this disrespect.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: But guarantee it won't happen again.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: I instantly professionally went to the client and said, we need to address this.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: And as soon as we did that, oh yeah, sure.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm like, okay, well, wait a minute here.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: I need to readjust a policy in my in my job or whenever they sign.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: That is something that I instantly I need to look over it, anyways.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: But those are your boundaries right there.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: That kind of gives your clients the you're steering the ship of this.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: What are you gonna tolerate and what are you not gonna tolerate?
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: And we have some warning signs that you need a client reset.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: You avoid certain client names.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's like Harry Potter, right?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: The the those the the person who shall not be named, right?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: Voldemort.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: If you put something on your client list and you don't want to mention their name because you're afraid it's gonna stir up dust and it's gonna have backlash, that might not be the client for you.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: Some homes trigger staff complaints.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: Mrs.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: Smith, Mrs.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: Smith is, you know, in her moo moo and she's dancing wild with the contractor because she's having a remodel done and nothing has been prepped, right?
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: Scope creep becomes normal.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I don't want you to do this this little teeny closet over here, this butler's pantry.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: I want you to do this master bath that we haven't done the last eight times.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: Can you can that be an even trade?
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: No, and this is how we we spin that.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: That you're scheduled for a certain amount of times.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: My cleaning techs need to get to their next appointment.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: But that is something that has to be scheduled, and we need to increase the price for that, especially if we haven't done it in eight months.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: And you should be paid.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: If someone in their home skips a master bath, and then suddenly on the sixth visit, that's six months in, they decide they want the master bath done.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: You're charging them extra to do the master bath.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: And it only the only exception would be is if they maintained it, they kind of gave it a lick and a promise in between, then it really didn't need hard scrubbing.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: But more than likely, that monthly client, six months in, is gonna need to have a hard scrub.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the caveat to that is if you go to the house and you agree to do certain areas, the monthly price I just mentioned in another podcast is$225.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: If they decide that they don't want that master bath done, it's still$225.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: You remember that start rate.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's the start rate for a monthly cleaning and goes up.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: If they choose to skip for six months and we have to catch that bathroom up because they didn't give it a look and a promise, we're gonna add on 30 or 40 bucks because we have to go get a drill.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna have to scrape the wall, we're gonna have to use extra chemical, it's gonna take extra time.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: And then I'm with Jamie.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes this girls are doing two or three homes.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: There's no time to give a hard scrub to a master bath that needs to be, you know, put in jobber and said, Hey, can we hit the master bath this time?
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, then it's seven months, right?
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: So just something to think about when you start to get clients like that.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, and you're over-explaining your pricing.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, guys.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: Let me let me put this on do not disturb.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh boy, I can tell I can't tell you uh how many times, especially in the beginning.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: Nowadays, I've learned to okay, thank you.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: Call us if you ever need us again.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: That you know, you cannot explain every single expense.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: Don't do it, don't do it.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: Don't well, I got this.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: You do real I and I did too, you guys.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: I uh you do realize that I do have W-2 employees, that I do carry insurance, that I do like I'm running a legitimate business here, like just the know it all.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: You don't don't do that, you don't have to.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: It'll feel enticing every once in a while, but you it's not really necessary.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes there's times when you just want to stick it to them and just nope, just thank you.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: So, what a client reset is and isn't, it's not refusing work, it's not being picky, it's not turning down money.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, yeah.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's choosing who you build relationships with, it's deciding what behavior your business will tolerate, and there is a lot of unfortunate bad behavior sometimes.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: You're just like, this is just wild.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: Some of the, I mean, we can just go, we can write a whole book on client experiences.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's protecting your staff, your systems, and your peace.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: Protecting your staff is of the utmost importance.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: They're your golden unicorns.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: We went to Texas Roadhouse.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: I hardly ever go to corporate stores.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: If for those of you who don't know, I work for TGI Fridays for years.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: I like I don't have any desire to do corporate anything.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: I try to support as local as I possibly can.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we were waiting in line because they have the little digital things.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: And the table, you could see there's the hostess stand.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: For those of you who are watching, you know, listening, there's the hostess stand.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: You have to walk over by the meat counter and then go around to the tables.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, there was a waitress, and it was a tight fit because they they double stacked the tables inside of Texas Roadhouse.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, this gentleman had had one too many drinks, and he decided that he was not going to be looking anymore, that he was going to be touching.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I watched this woman who was five foot two get in this guy who was six foot five, right in his face about touching her employee.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I have never seen a bigger man cower in an instance.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: And the police came and we had to all be interviewed, and it was all this stuff.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: The mama bear comes out of you, and you know, I I remember saying this on another podcast, you guys.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: Your cleaning text, and it's not about money all the time, but I'm gonna tell you though, they could bring in one cleaner, can bring in$70,000.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: And if they're really good and aligned with your company, your core values, all that stuff, you tend to protect them like, oh, no, no, no, you're not gonna treat my employees just any type of way, and a backbone.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna have to get a backbone and make sure that they're working, man.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: How great is that that the they have chosen our company to come and work for, right?
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that is just and you know, that is just your fingers out to dry when they bring something to your attention.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: Thank them for bringing it to their attention, give them a five-dollar gift card.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: I would because you wouldn't have known otherwise, and you reward the behavior.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like, if you have a client who is verbally abusive to one of your ladies or gentlemen, step in and say, you know, we don't we have a tall well, no cursing tolerance.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: For those of you who are looking for interesting, listen to the Angela Brown interview about cursing.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: She goes on this whole thing.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: We interviewed her for 90 minutes.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: Bless you, Angela.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: You're so fun.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but making sure that you're protecting your staff, your systems, and your piece.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: When you do the first two, the staff and your systems, the piece comes automatically.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's by default.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: And you want smooth running, you don't want to have to be up at night trying to figure out why some guy touched a server.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's just like, uh, right?
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um it does, it leaves you uh just uh, yeah.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then you sometimes there's jobs that you're just you won't take on because the person is just too difficult or has all of these extra requirements or has these terms and conditions or wants to only not give you, they don't want to give you deposit, but they want you to come on Saturday at 2 p.m.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: when there's a snowstorm that's supposed to be there on Sunday, and you have to make sure, you know, it's just all of these unrealistic expectations.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: So when you say that here's a job I would take, but from a different client, that is a client reset.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: You're looking for those jobs, but not every client is your client.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: And then there's clients that you won't you wouldn't take again.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: I can name hundreds of clients that I would never take again, just bad experiences I've had with real estate agents, title brokers, plumbers, construction workers, other people during transitions of moves, alcoholic people.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: I we've dealt with people who've passed away, you know, we've we've dealt with all of it.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: We've I've seen everything.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: So, but if you end up losing on a job financially, that's probably the quickest lesson that you will learn.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I guarantee you will not let it happen again.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: And that's when that boundary comes in to make sure that you're gonna get paid for the next time because there's nothing worse than having to give away work for free, especially if you're out there doing the work yourself.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, oh, oh my gosh, I didn't say 500 bucks on this job is sucked.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: You're just pissed the whole time, and there's nothing worse.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: And then you have a point of reference, right?
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: Here's what changed after we enforced client standards.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: When I enforced the client cancellation policy, I went from 60% cancellations at any given time down to 2%.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: And if the 2% still cancel, they all know I guess you're gonna be billing me.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, yes, I am.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then you'll get some of those great clients that have been trained, right?
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we're talking about.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: That oh, I am out of the area.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: Go ahead and charge my card the full price.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm my bad.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: And you're those are the clients you want, they will respect you, right?
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: They understand how it works.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because you put that policy in place, you said, Hey, you know, you refer them back.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: To what they sign and say I I wouldn't be so shitty to be like, oh, is that your signature?
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: But you you I mean, technically you can, but I I do it around and in a finesse kind of way, and it's like they get it.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: So right, and there's an emotional side to resetting your clients.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: No, turning down a client can feel personal.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember the first time I had to fire a client.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: We had just come to an impasse.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: It was she was really picky.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: She did the white glove test, she did the paper towel test.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: And this is someone who had eight dogs, right?
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: Eight dogs, two adult children living at home.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: It was a huge house.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: I, you know, I didn't know what I was doing back then.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: We just get to the point where, like, well, I don't know how to break up with this person.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: And it was weekly too, on top of it, which you never want to walk away from, but you know, it is what it is.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I it it did feel personal, and I tried to not make it personal, but then it became personal when she realized what was happening and we were breaking up, right?
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: Then it became the ugliness because she actually and the worst part is this person lived down the block from me.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I had to, I would have there was only one way in the neighborhood, unless she went the other way and all the way around.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, we had to see each other and I had to like wave.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, hey, hey, it was.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'm surprised she didn't go like this.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: They do, they want to say that, or you you even want to say that, but boy, does it feel good whenever you get that rid of that monkey on your back.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: It does making sure it may be a a financial hit for a very short period of time, but I promise they come.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: They cut or they not that they the the client that you fire, they don't come back because you're not gonna allow that anymore on your your schedule.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: But clients will fill those spots, definitely, and then it does protecting your standards, it feels uncomfortable at first.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: I can't tell you it I squirmed, yeah.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: It just it takes some practice, just like almost boy, I'm better at it now because I've hired and I've fired employees and and cleaning tech or clients, but it in the beginning it does uh it and that just every time I feel uncomfortable like that is whenever I start noticing wait a minute, this is growth.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever out of my comfort zone, again, you've never been at this position before, so of course it's gonna feel uncomfortable.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: You don't know, you've never passed this threshold before.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, you're not gonna know it.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: It does so whenever you feel that smidgen of uncomfortability, just know that that's that's some growth.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's growth, believe it or not.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: And it's growth for you here.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and then you know you you guys can rewind this and tell us in six months down the road that oh, I finally got rid of that client.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: Guess what?
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: I filled it with the most amazing client that respects me, that knows what my new boundaries and my standards are.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: They signed off on it.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, it happens and it comes.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: It just there's a lot of differences in the trades, in the service-based side of the trades.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: For example, a builder isn't gonna come to their house every two weeks for 26 visits in a year, or 14 visits if it's monthly.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a different dynamic because of the intimacy.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: So we actually get to know some of these people, their personalities.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: Some of the homes I had, I've legitimately have watched their kids grow up, they're gone to college.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: One of them has a wife, has has children now, and it's just like this whole it's it's like you're growing with them, but you're growing with them at an arm's distance.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: So it it's it just the peace can show up faster than the regret, and you just want to have smooth running shifts.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: And it it does feel uncomfortable initially for you to do that, but once you take that first step, and you will you might do it smoothly.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: The first time I did it, I bumbled through the whole thing.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: I wrote a letter.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, does this before ChatGPT?
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: I had to figure it out on my own.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_01: Who knows?
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: If it was a little brute, maybe it was Savage, Savage Light, who knows?
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: But you it it's when relationships are no longer beneficial for you or the business, it's time for you to part ways.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: And holding on to something that isn't beneficial to your business is not good for anyone.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's not good for your cleaning tech, it's not good for you, it's not good for your business.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: So keep that in mind.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: And then you can separate the job from the client.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it can be the client is so difficult that they can you can just request that they're just not home.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's always a workaround.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes if you have a job that you take on and they complain every single time, that's not a good client.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: But sometimes you have someone who has a lot of control issues.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: How many of us as cleaning business owners have control issues with our cleaning tax, blah, blah, blah, right?
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: So it kind of goes both ways.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: So a workaround, if their person is difficult to be around for whatever is going on in their life, personally, you can say, I'm happy to continue on with this relationship as long as you are not here.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: I've done that many times.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a good one.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm actually gonna write that down.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good one.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because sometimes it's good money, you know, 425 bucks every week, yeah, it adds up, right?
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: $575 a week, it adds up.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: But and so that can be the workaround if they're that difficult.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: But if they're picky and they complain every single time, well, I found a hair behind the shower curtain in the master bath that's on the bottom level that no one uses.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: That might not be a good fit, right?
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: And then so you have to define client standards and not just service standards.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: I and you you price the price for the job, but qualify.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure that your your client is in align with you and your business and how you run things, right?
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: There there should be a qualifying checklist almost for you.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, if you want to scale, you do have to make uh like whenever you start getting office managers and stuff like that.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: And who knows?
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: They but you should be make it so that it's uh like a copy and paste, it it's uh it can flow good enough.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: Those they know what to look for.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like one of my cleaning techs, like I I can leave for days at a time, and I know that whenever I come back, that I will still have somebody on Jobber that was scheduled.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I you know, maybe even if it was fumbled around, it happened.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: My place, the the business didn't blow down and burn up and go to pieces.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_00: Make it scalable so that other people know what the qualifying things are for a client, taking on the client, and that's adhering to your core values and your beliefs and your mission statement and all that stuff.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: So communicating clearly and professionally is of the utmost importance, and then the best part is letting clients self-select.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you'll get a difficult one, they sneak in, and and they just are like, this just isn't working out for me.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: And you're like, yes, right.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_01: Or you have the other on the other side of it, you have the person who's like, you know, I really appreciate it.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, Yay, the cleaners are here, right?
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: Here is your tip, here is your lunch, let me let me burp and feed you while you're here, you know.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, make your music on, I'll make you some lunch.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: And you're just uh you probably could sit down and talk to them for hours because they're such awesome people, but they again they also know the uh because we've trained them that they need to get up and go, or otherwise we'll sit there and talk for hours.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: And it's that's if you're in the field, if your cleaning techs are out there and they still still the clients will know we uh we have a certain amount of time scheduled for this job, we gotta get going, and we got another job afterwards.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, you don't want to be in the therapy session either.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, as much as I'd love to sit here and talk to you, I gotta go.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_01: So that's that's the best point of your client reset.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: You don't need to stop working hard, you need to stop working for the wrong people.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to help resetting clients without burning bridges or losing income, we've built scripts, pricing, logic, and boundary frameworks inside of Clean Freaks University.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_01: And before we wrap up, we want to mention that we are currently have one spot left for the podcast.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_01: If you're interested in having your brand mentioned on the show, and it aligns with cleaning business owners and conversations that we have here.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: If you are interested, please reach out to Jamie or myself.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: All the information will be linked in the show notes.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: Start with one client, one boundary, and one reset.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_01: See you guys in the next episode.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you guys.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: Bye.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_01: Bye.
• 33:40
  unknown: Okay.