Key, alarm code, personal entry. What does it mean when my cleaning client won’t give me access? How am I supposed to get in if they are not at home? If they trust me enough to have me clean, what’s the big deal? The House Cleaning Guru, Angela Brown chimes in with tips from the top.
Listen: Cleaning Client Won’t Give Me A Key
Watch: Cleaning Client Won’t Give Me A Key
Hi there, I’m Angela Brown, and this is Ask a House Cleaner. This is the show where you get to ask a house cleaning question; I get to help you find an answer.
Today’s Question: Cleaning Client Won’t Give Me A Key. Why?
Today’s question comes from a girl who is just paranoid. And she says that client’s that she cleans for will not give her a key to their house. And she wants to know if it’s because they don’t trust her, or what the scenario is.
Answer: Cleaning Client Won’t Give Me A Key
Okay, so the answer to that question is; It might be you. But most likely it’s that the client themselves have trust issues.
And so, for example, they may not want a lose key roaming around society with the person who cleans their house. For the sheer fact that in the past they may have had a bad experience.
Lots of house cleaners come and go in the house cleaning industry. And so it’s possible that a house cleaner may come and clean for them only once or twice. And they don’t want to give a key to a house cleaner that they may never see again. There’s a lot of that, which goes on in the industry.
It’s Not Personal – But it is About Trust
It’s not personal, it usually has to do with the client, and the experiences that they’ve had in the past.
Now, once you get to know a customer or a client, and you’ve been cleaning for a long period, it will become comfortable for them to give you a key.
They’re not going to be there every single time that you’re there to clean. And it will become necessary for them to give you a key. So, the day will come when they say; “Hey, you know what? You should have your own key.” At that particular moment, you should have a specific place for that key.
Have a Special / Secure Place to Keep the Client’s Key 
Because you don’t want a customer’s key roaming around and getting lost. Right? And you don’t want to have to go back and go “Oh my gosh, I lost your key, can you make me another one?” Because that just shows that you’re irresponsible, and let bad things happen.
Now every house cleaner has lost customer’s keys. Every single one I know, and so that happens as well.
You’ll need to have some kind of a safety box at home or at work where you keep customer’s keys. Now, if you work for a cleaning company, it’s possible that you leave the keys at your place of business. And you just pick up key the day that you’re going to clean.
Prove You Are Responsible
The object is; if a customer trusts you enough to give you a key, guard that key with your life.
Don’t just toss it in your purse, or a cleaning caddy. In a purse, a key can get lost in the lining, or fall out when you reach for something else. And in a cleaning caddy, it can get tossed out with trash or fall out at the next customer’s house never to be seen again.
And if it gets tossed in your drawer at home, if it’s not labeled properly, when you do find it, you won’t be able to remember whose key it is. So be organized and systematic with customers keys when you do receive them.
How Do You Get In?
If the client is there to open the door when you get there, that’s awesome. If they are not there, they may have hidden a key outside somewhere. So, just make sure that you and the customer have agreed on how you’re going to get into their house on the days when they’re not going to be there.
Work Smart Not Hard
Alright, that’s it for today. If you have a question, go over to https://AskaHouseCleaner.com/show there’s a little blue button. You can click that blue button and just record your question for us.
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And until we meet again, leave the world a cleaner place than when you found it.
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