Okay, so you are ready for a service to clean your home. Good for
you! But, in addition to wanting top-notch service at a fair price, you
may ask: "How can I trust someone in my home, or better yet, with a key
to my house?"
The demand for professional home cleaning services
continues to grow. More and more people are realizing that outsourcing
these, sometimes less than desirable tasks, can have a great return on
investment. Often, the biggest pay off for hiring a home cleaning
service is not just the time you are not cleaning, but the total time -
and energy- you reclaim formerly spent dreading or avoiding cleaning.
Hiring
a service to clean your home is a big decision, with many
considerations. Trust is vital since it is, after all, your personal
space. All too often customers are not asking the right questions or
doing their homework.
Two Big Issues
Deal with a professional company - There are many persons or
"private parties" that will clean your home and may do a good job.
However, if you hire an individual rather than a company to clean your
home and pay them a certain amount in a year; you are their employer. If
they fail to pay proper taxes on the money you pay them, you could end
up being liable (not to mention the next time you are up for a cabinet
position, this is sure to end up all over CNN!) Also, if someone comes
into your home to work for you, and is hurt or injured, you could be
liable.
When you hire a professional maid service, you are,
ideally, avoiding all these risks. The service owner should carry the
burden of payroll taxes, Worker's Compensation, and liability insurance.
A professional service will also offer training for their employees.
All of the risk and liability is no longer your responsibility as the
customer. That kind of peace of mind is worth an extra $20. Isn't it?
Go
for professional, but not on image alone - Just because a business has
glossy business cards, and a Web site that rivals Microsoft, you still
need to do your homework. Keep these questions in mind when making your
decision on which cleaning company to hire:
1. Who will be
cleaning my house? Do they use employees or independent contractors?
Whatever the answer is, you need reassurance that you are getting the
protections that should come with a professional service. Do they use
individuals or teams? Ask them why they use the model they do. Different
business models work for different reasons. Just be sure the company
you want to hire is doing it for the right reasons. The IRS has a useful
guide on their Web site to determine what defines an employee and
independent contractor relationship.
2. Do they perform criminal
background checks and pre-screen employees? Every service should have a
policy for background checks and pre-screening employees. With today's
technology, even the smallest company has access to low cost tools over
the Internet. You will want to know the policy they follow and what
their process is for due diligence when hiring.
3. Are they
properly insured? Insurance includes general liability insurance and
Workers Compensation. It does not hurt to ask for a copy of insurance
certificates. As much as insurance costs, they should be more than happy
to show it to you.
4. Do they offer a satisfaction guarantee?
What does it entail? How long after the service is performed, do I have
to call to report problems that need to be addressed? No matter how good
a service is, or how great the employee training program, it is
imperfect human beings cleaning the house. As the customer, you should
have reassurance that if the team has a "bad day", the company will make
it right.
5. Who will have the key to my house? What is the
policy? How can I be sure I am safe? This should be a huge concern, and
most customers don't think to ask this question. Are the keys signed out
each day? How are the keys kept at other times? Where are they kept?
Are they locked up? Who is responsible for them? If they were to be lost
or stolen, are there any markings that identify where they go? Make
sure there is nothing to identify your address on the key. Also, ask up
front, in the event the key is lost or stolen, what is the replace /
re-key policy?
6. "Are you bonded?" Please don't ask this, and
tell all of your friends, family, and loved ones that this is not the
question to ask. All joking aside, don't even bother asking this. It
really means nothing except in extreme cases. How a bond works is that
it is purchased (it is not insurance, but insurance agents issue them)
usually for as little as $200 a year for a small company. Why is a bond
so cheap? They are low in price because there are rarely any claims paid
out on them. A bond will pay if an employee is caught stealing, is
tried, and convicted. In the days before the information superhighway,
thoroughly checking into a person's background was beyond the means of
most small companies. In years past, the hiring process was hard to
navigate and "situations" would occur. With all of the tools available
today, every small business owner has easy access to evaluate whom they
are hiring to clean your home. With that being said, most home cleaning
companies go ahead and buy the bond just simply because it is easier to
spend the $200 bucks a year and politely answer when asked, "yes we are
bonded", rather than going into the above narrative. Also, just imagine
how cool you will look when you are in a group discussing this at the
cocktail party, when the subject of cleaning services comes up!
7.
Are you both on the same page? All too often, the culprit of the
cleaning service-customer relationship going south is a lack of
communication. An astute cleaning service owner should walk you through
what their service will do for you and your home and give you a clear
picture of what you can expect. Be sure that you pay attention to what
they tell you. Better yet, perhaps they have flashy print materials that
also convey what their service can offer you. Everyone has their "hot
buttons" (what clean means to them); what one person thinks is clean may
not be "clean" to another person. It's just human nature. For some
people it is the bed made just the right way; for others, it is a clean
sink. Figure out where you fall from one end to the other in the
spectrum of being picky. If what really matters to you is not being
done, bring it up. You should not simply assume that it will be done and
that they should "just know".
8. What should I do if I am not
happy with the service I receive? Perhaps it is not until the first,
second, or third cleaning that you discover what your cleaning "hot
buttons" are. (Side note: pay attention to what these are. It can save
you YEARS of therapy if you pay close attention to what they are).
I
hope that some of these discoveries will be good things your
professional cleaning team has done that you did not expect to impact
you the way they did. However, if you find "things" that grate your
nerves, you should address them. Make sure it was not simply the day at
the office that is affecting your perspective. CALL, express your
concerns to the owner/ manager. Believe it or not, the most successful
service owners APPRECIATE and welcome constructive criticism. It is the
best way to build a better business, and professionals will see your
input as a gift. If it is something small, let it slide until the next
visit. If it does matter to you, then ask that they send the team back
to correct it. They should be happy to do so as soon as reasonably
possible. Remember, this is an intimate relationship and relationships
require communication; relationships without communication fail!
