Latest / Cleaning Business Life / CBL Episode #90 Your Fired...How to Professionally Fire a Client!!

Transcript

CBL Episode #90 Your Fired...How to Professionally Fire a Client!! · Cleaning Business Life

• 0:58
  Speaker 1: It's a long time, no see.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Hi.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: We're in the month of December.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: It's almost the end of the year.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: I'm super excited to have gone through 2020, 2020, 2024.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: 2024, wow, right, with all of you, and today we're talking about how to professionally fire a client.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: There's a lot that leads into the end of the relationship.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: It's like going through a divorce, depending on how long they've been with you, depending on the circumstance, depending on what happened with the cleaning tech.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of depending on.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: So we're here to talk about how to professionally fire a client and I'm hoping that this is going to be a bit and I'm sure there'll be a little drama that goes along with it because we both have had to fire clients.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: I have had to fire clients on the cleaning in.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: I've had to fire clients on the coaching in.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: We just seem to and I know I've mentioned this in the past we have become a society that feels that we're entitled to whatever that whim is and we're not entitled to anything.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: It's by the grace of God that we wake up every single day, that we have good health, that we have happy thoughts, that we have good lives that are fulfilling and prosperous, that we give back to our communities.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of things that go on with what I just said, but sometimes people come in your, your orbit, and you just shake your head Like how do they get underneath the door?
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Right, cause you remember, we've all seen the cat memes where the cat's reaching into the door while you're in the bathroom and they can't figure out how to get the door open, but you can see their paw going back and forth.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: That's what it's like when you get a bad client come in and you're like I don't want the cat to bother me anymore, I want to sit in the bathroom by myself and do my business.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: I don't want to get scratched by the cat, right, and I don't have anything against kitties at all.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: No, no, no, I don't have kitties because I have birds and dogs, but if, given the opportunity, I probably have a kitty.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: It's been years since I've had a kitty.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: They are the best predators ever and they keep the mice at bay.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: Right, and they always bring you gifts.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: You're like, oh, I just changed the trade, thanks for bringing that to me, that to me.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: So there are certain steps that lead into the potential of letting someone go.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: Usually, we're going to talk about mostly cleaning clients.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Like I said, sometimes you people don't show.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: It's like going on dates.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: Right, the first date, everything is so nice.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: They open the door for you, they say all the wonderful things you smell great, great, I love you.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Um, not, obviously not on the first date.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, but but the gas light, it starts to deteriorate as you get to know them better.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: Right, the shininess needs to be rebuffed.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, and things happen.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: So you let someone underneath the door and then you're waiting for the cat to stick his paw underneath the door to see what's going to happen.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Right, and people are predictable.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: If anything, you will see the same patterns over and over again.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: So then, when the same stuff keeps happening, you have to look at yourself and go.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: Why did I allow that to happen?
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: And every once in a while I've been doing this 15 years I'm like still shocked.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: Why did I let them in?
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: Because they gave you a good story.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, and yeah they did.
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: They gave you a good story and you kind of don't catch up on it Until you kind of like you said you're working with this person and there's little cracks that start showing and it don't have.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: Sometimes it's not even very obvious.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: It's not obvious, it's just, hmm, really so whenever you're getting your inventory in your mind or in your CRM or whatever, a voice clip you may have before and afters of this client's house and you're going to put in there, you're going to start documenting anytime that you have a, uh, some sort of feedback, good or bad but especially you're going to start watching to see if there's a lot of lot more bad than there are good right and and if you have to continuously explain yourself as to why.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: You know why.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: Why did you not do the 70% clutter?
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: You know why didn't you lift up every single knickknack that I had and polish it clean?
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: That goes back to I think we did an episode on what was the episode we just did.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: It goes back to that episode.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: You know that one, yeah you know that one it's, there's a lot.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: You're going to be knocking me in it.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: It's either.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: When you have one it's um, you're there's a lot.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: It's either when you have it's it's.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: People are predictable.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: So you're going to have two scenarios.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: They're either going to work out their issues right away because they can't help themselves, or the facade will eventually rub itself off and then you'll be able to see the cracks underneath.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: It's like having the foundation repaired on your home right.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: Some people will actually take the whole foundation out, lift the house up, replace the foundation.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: Other people will slap on some cement and hope for the best.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: That's their way of fixing it.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: And so you have to decide where you draw the line on what's going to happen and what's going to go down.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: And there are clients.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: If you get the high maintenance clients, I call them high maintenance.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: I'm sure in their minds they don't think that they are, but they're.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: They're never, never happy.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: They're overly critical about everything.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: You were breathing in the wrong direction.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: The sun should rise on the East.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: Um, not on the West and not the East.
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the whole dynamic.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: Uh, those are red flags.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: That's what we call red flags.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: If they went through five cleaning cleaners and um five years, uh, that's a red flag.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: So those are things that you're going to pick up on as you go along.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: But, uh, firing of a client is never easy, it's not, and, um, I've done, I've done it a couple of times and um, sometimes I'll just end the relationship and say, uh, we just obviously are not a good fit for each other, but we always back it up.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: I always want to remain ethical and, um, professional, yeah, as, because this is a business, this is my reputation, and I don't want them going out and just say, oh, such and such, and you know they will and just you know you, you have it.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: Just you guys weren't just a good fit for each other and so I'm getting that.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: I don't want to say evidence, but basically I make sure that we have the resources for them.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: I can give them some other cleaning companies, name a number, say, hey, I don't think that we're a good fit, but maybe you'll fit better with a couple of these people, better with a couple of these people.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: And you know, unless I feel like that, like I don't want anybody to have to deal with this person, that that would just be wrong, but you know you want to just have your, your backup system.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: So I and there's also times whenever I've just ended it and said we're not a good fit for each other.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: Thank you, and a lot of that is behavior based.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: They don't know how to behave and treat us with the respect and dignity that we deserve.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: Sometimes it's the overstepping right.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: They try.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: They try to hook up with your cleaning tech.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: Hey, do you want to earn some money on the side?
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: And that's when you can call them out.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: And it's okay to have the confrontation because you only see it as someone cheaper and you see it as you're trying to take three grand from me, because that's what I spent training this person.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: Exactly so there's a whole different thing.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: So you're on the playing field.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: This person tried to purge your cleaning tech.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: So you call them up and you say, mrs Smith, was there something wrong with the cleaning?
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: And they'll say, no, I love Susan, she.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: So you call them up and you say, mrs Smith, was there something wrong with the cleaning?
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: And they'll say, no, I love Susan.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: She's fantastic.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Well, susan, I just wanted to let you know, and let me know, that you tried to proposition her for work on the side and that's not allowed.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: So, unfortunately, the consequence of this action is that we will no longer service your house.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: Effective blah, blah, blah.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: Now, before that happens, there is a payment clause.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: Whenever you're having issues with anybody, make sure you're paid and up to date before you fire them, because you will not get the money, you'll have to chase the money or go to court.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: I really don't want that.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: The reason why you're firing the client is non-payment, but 99% of the time, while you're firing someone, it's all behavior-based 99% of the time, while you're firing someone.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: It's all behavior based, it's just people behaving badly.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: It's, you know, the games people play, right, right.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: No, and it is, and people they will.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: Sometimes they just look down on you and I just I, I anymore.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: I don't stand for that Right gonna.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: I could see for it.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: No, I, it's, uh, we, you know, and just sometimes you're just honestly just not a good fit, right, it just uh, we're, we're missing the mark with each other or something's.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: Just your spidey senses is what I call it is going up, right, and there is a process to doing this.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: And if you're feeling like you're you're being devalued, if you feel, especially if nonpayment, nonpayment, that's, that's a deal breaker, yep, if I'm, if I'm chasing money, that's a middle, that's we're done, we are done.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: I don't wait for payment.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: I have somebody that runs credit cards two times a day, once in the mid-afternoon and once in the evening.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: But if there's no payment, that's a done deal.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: We're not Automatic.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you can find somebody else, um, but you, you also need to.
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: If it's a behavior base, do choose the right time and fill it out again.
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: Make sure you get your payment first, because you will not get payment after letting go of a client, right?
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: Um, and just, uh, you, there's a couple of ways you can do it.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: Uh, you can tell them.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: You know, a lot of people are, especially in this industry, are non-confrontational, um, sometimes I feel like pleasers, yes and um, I yes, and I also believe that this is a hard industry to be an introvert in.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: We do sometimes have to pull up our big panties or undies and make those hard phone calls Right.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: So either a lot of people do it by text and just say I've also, you know, fibbed and said I'm going in a different direction or I'm not servicing that area anymore.
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: Here's such and such phone number.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: Right, and it's okay to be passive, aggressive.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: We don't need to.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: We have enough balls in the air on a daily basis.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: We don't need to add in the confrontation with somebody who sucks all of the memory out of your brain and get you all worked up and you start to shake.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: Don't ever let it get that far.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: It's not worth it to your health, it's not worth it to your inner circle, it's not worth it at all.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: It's just them working on their issues through you and your business.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: And so if you have someone who is misbehaving, you can give them an autocorrect if you feel like it, or you can just say this isn't going to work out.
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: And here is my letter and this is our last day.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: Best of luck, bye, always wait until you're calm.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: Yes as well.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: Yes as well.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: If this person has really ticked you off, which I've had to sit in my car and breathe in and breathe out and I'll deal with this here in a little bit Wait till you're calm before you, Because if you're just cussing, that is so you know.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: Give them the middle finger.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: Do not do that, Don't, don't remain professional.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: As best as you can.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: And then obviously, don't get into physical confrontation.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: I have had it in the past.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: I haven't had it in a long time, but I have had it in the past.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: I live in a small town.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: It's a cowboy town and there have been a couple of occasions where I've had to call my husband and say I need you to tell this person how it's going to be man to man, because they don't know how to interface with women and I'm a very strong, willed woman business owner and my husband, unfortunately, has had to step in and handle whatever the situation was and it's just because they didn't know how to deal with me as a woman.
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: They only know how to deal men to men and those occasions do come up and hopefully you don't need to have that happen, but it could have been avoidable.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: But like they are just pigheaded, they only see the one little path through the hole, right, I'm like I don't know.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: That's all they see.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: They don't see it.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: They don't know how to interface with you.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: They don't know what to do with you.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: You're telling them all of these rules and they're not going to listen to you because you're a woman and there's no crime in that, it's just you.
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: Those type of people.
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: You know what they are.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: They're pretty predictable Push button A to get this response, push button B to get this response and then push D if you want this response.
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: Never get to D.
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: Personal feelings.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, personal feelings need to stay out of this Right.
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: Just if you do want to tell them about themselves, it has to be facts.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: Try to keep the personal feelings.
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: Right, it shouldn't be.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: And sometimes they will they'll make facts.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Try to keep the personal feelings Right.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: It shouldn't be a personal attack, and sometimes they will.
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: They'll make, they'll throw the first punch and they'll make it a personal attack about you know your appearance or how you talk or how you act.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: Or you should be ashamed, or I'm going to take you down, I'm going to take your whole business down.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: Those types of things are indications that that that time you've, you've've, you've striked out right out of the baseball game.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: So you have to take a step back and and go in a different direction.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: Um, obviously for safety reasons, to not try to get in an altercation with someone when you don't have someone with you.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: Um, try to be as professional and distinct as possible so that you don't get hit or have to have the police called or do all the crazy stuff, because we live in crazy times right now.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: Try to give people as much dignity and respect without shaming them.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: Um, and and and let it be that.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: Don't go any further.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: Try not to put yourself in a situation where you could be in danger, because you have family who is depending on you.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: You have employees that are depending on you.
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: And it is yes, and they're also depending on you to protect them and not be belittled or treated in such a way, and if you, you know you have to step in at some point.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: I had a girl.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: Her name was Rebecca.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: I loved Rebecca.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: Rebecca was a she's.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: She was a large, curvy girl and I used to tell her I'm like, have you ever get in a spot where you cannot fit?
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: Just let the other girl know and just say, I'm cause she didn't know how to tell someone in a nice way.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: She was very shy and I might just say I'm a big, curvy girl.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: I'm wondering if you can get behind there for me and then the other girl be like, sure, no problem, right.
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: Rebecca came from a very sheltered environment.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: Her parents were missionaries and they traveled a lot.
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: When she was younger, they went to South Africa, they went to, they did a lot of like missionary stuff, right, which I love, yeah, okay, yeah, I love it rebecca was a very shy individual.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: Never you could say whatever to her and she would not respond because she didn't know what to say.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: And it took her about three years working with me before she was like the first time she said no, right, well, rebecca was going through a tough time.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Her mom had gotten breast cancer and was dying, and she didn't know.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: I didn't find this out until like nine months into the process.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: Right, she never said anything to anybody.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: Her mom ultimately died from breast cancer.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: And I had a client who I had done a bid for in the early evening and this is why I don't recommend that you go to bids late at night or in the early evening, because you miss a lot of the hanging spider webs, you miss a lot of the lights, a lot can go down and they want to hold you to a certain price because you didn't see what you're supposed to have seen, because it's dark.
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: That's me, and Rebecca was just a nice, as easy as peasiest person that you could ever work with.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: She just was one of those individuals you just wanted to hug her every time you seen her.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: So this particular person tried to.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: We only bid it for a certain part of the house.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: We didn't bid it for downstairs or the two offices.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: Well, the woman decided that, since I was not going to be there, that she was going to take advantage of the cleaners.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: And Rebecca didn't call me.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: It was the other girl who finally called me and I showed up and I said you know what's going on?
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: And she, rebecca, was in the corner crying because this woman yelled at her and the other girl witnessed it and didn't know what to say because she was also shy.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: And it was like this this little lady is just screaming at both of us.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: So I went over there and I tried my best to control myself and then the mommy bear kicked in and there was no coming back from the mommy bear.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: I was, I got myself so upset so worked out that I left some of the gear there and I had.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: This is when we were all like you know, we did the whole two team model and they got a high five.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: They're like, oh my God, that was so freaking awesome.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: I need a timeout.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: I should have, I should not have done that.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: And they're like I was just so mad because she had started screaming at Rebecca Rebecca's mom was dying from breast cancer but they were like, yeah, high five.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: I'm like, oh my God.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: No, I did with this individual and I ended up running into this individual who screamed at me and I screamed at her in front of my two employees at a restaurant and I ended up sitting next to her and she was still really awful to me five years later and just started letting me have it again and we got in another confrontation at the restaurant.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: We had to leave because I was not behaving Well.
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: Of course not, and I had tried to be as professional as I could, but it just let you just.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: It was like we just left off right where we were from the time before and so don't do what I did Be professional.
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: That takes us to the point of.
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: Those are lessons that you have learned, lessons that you have learned, and make sure that, whenever you're you are firing a client, what is the lesson that you're learning Really?
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: Sit back and evaluate.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: Right, you're picking up on red flags?
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: You're you know what your client is, don't?
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: You're not taking on every client?
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: No, you can't.
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: I should have said no to that lady yeah, you're learning from that.
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: right, you're learning, you know?
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: Um, yeah, we're definitely learning, and I think there is a Dear John or Jane letter in the Maids Network at the top and the guides and you guys.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: That is not going to be there very much longer.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: Those are some golden nuggets up there that are free, right, take advantage of what Shannon has.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: You know, whenever I first started this industry, I got really lucky and went.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: I don't know how I fell into the maids network, but I'm so glad I did and there's a lot of other good, but it wasn't just a match.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: You know, some of them are just too big for this is a nice, it's a big group, but I like it.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: Whenever I first joined, I remember I was researching and researching, and researching and then, whenever I thought I had it and I had all my ducks in a row, I went back and I did it again, just to empower myself and on a very, very fast track of learning how to run a business.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: Trial by fire.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: Jamie took it on.
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: I mean, we're talking within a couple of months of time.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: I swam.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: It was a lot.
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: Don't do like I did.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: A lot of people have you know, they've been in this industry for a long time.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: I'm not new to cleaning because I've been in the cleaning industry for about 25 years.
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: But running a business is a whole different ballgame.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: But in this group, the Maids Network at the top is a bunch of juicy golden nuggets.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: There is a Dear John letter and you can take that.
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: And again, this isn't going to be up there very much longer.
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: I don't know if she's decided to do away with it or not.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: She's deciding, but there's a Dear John letter and how to you know.
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: You can do it.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: A lot of us are non-confrontational.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: I know I'm not.
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: I've done it through text.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: I've done it through text.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: I've done it through email.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: I've left letters.
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: This will be our last clean.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: Thank you for your services.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: We've decided to go into a different direction.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: The easiest way to do it is because you don't want to have the confrontation.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: You're trying to have them be retaliatory.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: This is the interface that we deal with on a daily basis with reviews and as they go over and I see this happen in my town, jamie, I'm sure you see it happen in yours.
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: They it's especially.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: It's again it goes back to the entitlement.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: They go to a restaurant.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: They have a bad experience, so instead of making the restaurant aware hey, my food came out cold they go to social media vomit here, vomit there, vomit there, vomit there, vomit there and they go.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: Oh, I'm so the victim.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: This person didn't do anything to fix my problem.
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: Blah, blah, blah, blah blah, what did they know?
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, don't do that.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: This isn't their spot for this.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: I don't think this is the spot for this.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Have you reached out to the management of the restaurant?
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: I'm sure they would be happy to have fixed it, and it's the they should have known.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: I'm like you have a really high expectation.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: You know what?
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: I don't recall seeing anyone be able to walk on water in the last couple thousand years, so you know, it's just like partying at the Red Sea.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: I haven't seen that happen either.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: So it's just this expectation that you're supposed to know what you're supposed to know.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: We are not mind readers.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: We are human.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: We cannot walk on water.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: We are business owners.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: I have never.
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: And if you think about the cleaning industry, we are the only industry that is mostly women based.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: 9% of us are women, women business owners owners.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: Pat yourself on the back, girls ladies gentlemen, yes mostly women business owners.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: Oh, I got in the industry out of 23 trades.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: We're the ones swaying the direction that it needs to go in, so empower yourselves.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: Please don't do what I did and do the whole mommy bear episode.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: I just lost it.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: Poor Rebecca, her mom's going through chemo and radiation and all these other things, and when I saw Rebecca in the corner crying tears, tears running down her face, I just lost it.
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, yeah no basically, when that happens, we pull our our techs out of there and really try to wrap our heads around.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: Make sure that we're calmed down, make sure Rebecca's the Rebecca's that are out there are taken care of.
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: These are our bread and butter, and I understand why you would have done something like that.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: You're the buffer for them.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: They don't get paid enough money to get any form of abuse.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: Their job is hard enough as it is.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: You, as the business owner, need to be the buffer.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: Do not let them hang out in the wind and take abuse verbally or physically or whatever's going on from the clients, cause we have an entitled society who thinks that they deserve so much more than what they deserve.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: And I'm not saying that no one deserves special treatment.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: I'm just saying that we tend to overstate because they don't have the boundaries that the rest of us have, right?
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: So you're going to have to be the dominant force and protect your team.
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: Your team is where you make your money.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: It's, yes, the clients you make money off.
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: The clients yes, you hear me talk about it all the time Are your cleaning techs.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: You can easily gross 75 K and above per year off each cleaning tech If you do things right and put systems in place.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: So don't let someone who is bad behaving ruin that for you and make your Rebecca's's quit.
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: I it's so uncomfortable to come back into work the next day to try, and you know um yeah I, it was embarrassing yeah, you are just awesome, right, yeah yeah no know, always stay and that was a learning experience, a huge learning experience.
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: Take what Shannon just said.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: Don't do that Really, really.
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: We want to puff up their chests now and don't let your allow yourself.
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: If you're a solo cleaner, don't let your allow yourself to be bullied like this, do not.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: There's a lot out there.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: It's amazing to me how people will just go right down that path just because we're cleaners.
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: Like I flicked my shirt because I just I, it makes me uh, uh, it upsets me and um moment, yes, and I, you know what I, um we are basically I, I want to make sure they are that I have their life 360 for them on jobber.
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: They make sure it drops a pin to show me where they're at.
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: I am their protection too, in this company.
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: Wait, you just posted something in the Mates Network in regards to somebody, something happening to somebody.
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: It was an older article from last year but I felt it's still relevant from happening because it happened twice.
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: Last year we had the lady who, um, was doing a post-construction cleaning job and unfortunately her life was taken, and then this lady was hired in by.
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: It looked like a 30 year old and something transpired and he just unfortunately ended her life.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: I won't go into gory details, yeah, but the thing is.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: But it was just like wow very well could have been.
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: She was firing the client, right, you don't know.
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: You, like we said when firing a client, do it after.
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: You know this.
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: Afterwards, after you're clean, make sure you're paid first.
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: There's several different options to do it.
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: You can do it, you know.
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: The easiest way for me was unfortunately, this is going to be our last clean.
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: Here is such and such as phone numbers and go on your way.
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: Numbers, um, and go on your way.
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: Sometimes there's, uh I I really don't normally mess with you unless you don't have um insurance, um I, so I don't offer anybody without insurance.
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: But there's also people that I know that are looking for side money.
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: And people are also looking for individuals that are cleaners, and there's plenty of them on there.
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: Or you can give them a way to, hey, go into a mom's group, go on to your next door, you know.
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: Give them an alternative.
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: It don't necessarily have to be a cleaner in the area.
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: They can make their own post or an email or you know, whatever it's just a courtesy, like here's three numbers in case you want to call.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: It doesn't mean they have to do anything with it, but that's the gist of how to fire a client.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: You have the right to refuse service to anyone.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: We actually don't even see that in any retail location anymore.
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: And the DMV here?
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: The DMV used to be in a very small little building and on the wall I swear to you because I've seen the photos it says we don't care where you came from, Please follow the rules and take a number here.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: And it was because we have been, and I know a lot of people feel this way.
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: Um, we've been invaded by people from another state really close by, and um, they would tell them how it was supposed to be and they're like we were a small cowboy town yeah like, yeah, that's.
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: I couldn't believe.
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: And I didn't believe the story until I saw a picture from betty, who was like 92 she's no longer around and she had an actual photo because she had her girlfriend who worked at the MVD, which is the DMV in California, and showed me the picture.
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: On the wall it says we don't care where you're from, please take a number here.
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: I like that.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: I'm glad you're from California, because we don't like you.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: I was like, oh my gosh, this is terrible.
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: And she would giggle.
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: She was Betty, was a hoot, she used to drink.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: I miss her.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: She drank scotch and she smoked cigars.
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: She was one of the best.
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: Oh so, and then she was it was smelling.
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: In the 90s, you put smell, that is-.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: What are you going to do, right?
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: So, domineer, that's uh, that, that's something.
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I like that, I like that and cuss like a sailor, just cuss like a sailor.
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: Absolutely nobody took any gut from her.
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: She told me that one time we were talking this is off topic, obviously she used to have mail boarders like stay at her home.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: She had a vict, victorian, oh, uh, what is that?
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, she, she had hostels but she would make some of her male borders.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: Be her friend is how she labeled.
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: I mean I would turn bright red.
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: I'm like oh, the pool boys Right.
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: And she's like some quarters are better than others and I was like oh my God, I miss her.
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: She was like 110.
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: Oh my God, I miss her.
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: She was like 110 pounds wet.
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: She was a spitfire, that one.
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: I love it.
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we got a client like that.
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I love them.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: It's like 9 o'clock in the morning.
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: She's drinking scotch.
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: I'm like you're drinking scotch, yeah, and you're pointing to that I'm 92.
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, wow, okay, yeah.
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: No, that's not not the ideal customer, but she was, she was a hoot I, and all these years later, I still remember her.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: It's funny, oh I just love that, I love.
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: Well, that's how you fire a client.
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: If you're looking for the um actual document, the dear john letter, I think I believe it's labeled, it's in the guides.
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: The guys won't be up there forever.
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: I am going to be pulling them down, probably at the end of the year.
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: They've been up there for four or five years now and it'll probably be added into course as a bonus at some point.
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: If you have any questions, we love to hear them.
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: You can always ask your questions through fan mail and I hope that you guys are getting your goals ready for next year.
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: I believe that this podcast is going to be probably in the middle of December, pretty close to Christmas.
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: So if you have any questions, reach out.
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: Yes, we'll be talking.