These a number of tempting no-no’s when cleaning will completely derail your maid service. Zoning out and complacency can cost you jobs. If you’re bored and stop paying attention, other maids will take your jobs.
Other No-Nos when cleaning includes arguing with customers or coworkers. Or arguing with your boss. You’ve got to be teachable. Thinking you know it all leads to sloppy work or you getting fired.
Other no-nos include skipping breaks. Which causes a dip in blood sugar and low energy or being tired.
Listen: 5 No-No’s When Cleaning
Watch: 5 No-No’s When Cleaning
Hey there, I’m Angela Brown, and this is Ask a House Cleaner. This is a show where you get to ask a house cleaning question, and I get to help you find an answer. You can find this and 400 other answered questions in this series on our YouTube channel.
What are the Biggest No-No’s When Cleaning?
What is the biggest no-no when working as a house cleaner? The first one is zoning out. That is a no-no when you’re cleaning.
As a professional house cleaner, the object is for you to be fast and efficient and for you to stay on task. So if you show up at a house and you start thinking about a picnic that you’re going to have on Saturday, your mind goes off on this tangent, right?
You Need to Stay Focused on Your Cleaning
While you’re cleaning, you need to stay focused on the task at hand. Because if you start drifting and going down these rabbit holes of thoughts, you’re going to end up cleaning the same thing over and over again. It’s not going to be efficient and it’s not going to be effective because time is money and time is money in any business.
Time is of the essence when you’re in the cleaning business. If you zone out, you’ve lost track of what you’re doing and although you’re still cleaning. You’re not paying attention and when you don’t pay attention, you miss stuff, so now you’re wasting time and you’re missing stuff.
Zoning Out is a Cleaning No-No
Do not zone out while you’re cleaning. You have to snap yourself back into the present moment at all times. If children enter the room, you need to be aware of those children and you need to keep them away from your cleaning supplies.
If animals and pets come into the room if they smell citrus or something like that. Then they might come and start sniffing around your cleaning supplies. We don’t want them to come around your cleaning supplies either. Also, if there’s something happening.
For example, let’s say that someone unauthorized enters the house, you need to be aware of that. But if you’re zoned out, you’re not even going to hear when they enter. You need to be aware of everything that’s going on around you in a 360 view at all times while you’re cleaning.
Thinking You Have Nothing Left to Learn is a No-No
Another no-no is thinking that you know it all.
“Oh, I’ve been doing this for years, I know it all.” No, you don’t! This is because there are so many new products that hit the market all the time and a customer will say, “Hey, I saw this new thing on TV, will you give it a try?” If you don’t know what it is, you can damage the customer’s property. So it’s important that you keep learning.
It’s also important that you continually learn new business and marketing ideas. If you’re running a business, there is a lot to learn and not anyone ever learns it all. So stop thinking that you know it all. That’s a no-no in the cleaning business.
Never Argue in House Cleaning
Another no-no is arguing. Do not argue with your customers, with your co-workers, or with your boss. Because there are other people that have to do business with you and if you’re on a team, someone else’s opinion is as valid as your own.
Now you may disagree with their opinion, but their opinion is valid. To them, it is the truth and with a customer, a customer who says, “Oh, this wasn’t done correctly.”
That is the customer’s opinion. Now you might argue in your head and say, “No, I’ve been doing this for a long time, I know I did it the right way.“
You Cannot Argue with the Customer
You cannot argue with the customer because in the customer’s head they are correct. So, if they are the ones that write your paycheck, it behooves you to listen to what they have to say. You have to consider it like, “well, I never thought of it that way, but we can give it a try your way and see how that works.“
Then they go, “Yeah, okay let’s do it that way.” If it doesn’t work, you can always go back to doing it your way but at least you tried it the customer’s way.
A big no-no is don’t ever argue with your co-workers, your employees, or your customers. Because who knows, somebody might have a new idea that will streamline and help your business go faster. You never know. Don’t argue with them, listen and pay attention.
Slacking Off is a No-No
Alright, another no-no in the business is slacking off because it shows a lack of energy. So when you are working and it’s easy to fall into this trap, house cleaners do this every day. They’re working and they say, “Oh, well I’m almost finished with this kitchen, I won’t take a break, I’ll finish, then I’ll take a break.”
Then they end up working for 20 or 30 more minutes. Their blood sugar levels dip and then they start getting irritable and hangry and they are not paying attention as close as they would. They get a little bit more snarky or snippy.
A No-No is Skipping Your Small Breaks
It’s important that you pay attention to your body signals. If you start getting a little bit hungry, grab a smoothie out of your cleaning kit. Maybe carry a fresh fruit smoothie with you. Because it has natural carbohydrates in it and natural sugar and it will keep your blood sugar levels up.
Don’t use fast drinks that are sugary sodas because of house cleaning. That’s going to give you a quick spike in your energy and then it’s going to drop you off. Whereas a smoothie it’s going to give you fast energy and it’s going to keep it maintained throughout the day.
Sip on a smoothie throughout the day and if you feel your blood sugar level starts to dive a little bit, grab a couple of swigs of that and you’re good to go. You don’t have to stop, it doesn’t take more than a couple of seconds, but a no-no is skipping that small break, even if it’s only a few seconds. Don’t skip your breaks. That is a no-no.
Complacency is a No-No
Another one of the no-no’s when cleaning is becoming complacent and we do this day in and day out. And you get to the point where you know a customer’s house and you can see it in the back of your mind without even being there.
You get to the customer’s house and you bring in your stuff and you get in this routine and you become complacent. With complacency comes sloppiness.
Although we’ve had customers for years, every single job you do should be an audition for the next job. So you should treat every single job, and I do mean every single job as if it was your last.
Treat Every Job Like It’s Your Last
Ask yourself “If this is the last house I am going to clean, is this how I want to be remembered?” If it’s not, then you need to up your game a little bit. You need to make sure that you are spectacular at every house.
Because that spectacular enthusiastic job that you do that is consistent is what gets you recommendations and referrals. If you get complacent and you get sloppy, they’re waiting for the next best house cleaner to come along.
They might undercut your price a little bit and you are out the door. There is no loyalty anymore in sloppy work. So, do not. It’s one of the no-no’s when cleaning, don’t ever get complacent.
Resources
The Entitlement Cure: Finding Success at Work and in Relationships in a Shortcut World – https://amzn.to/2KE3chT
Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life – https://amzn.to/2KDJ67c
From Innocence to Entitlement: A Love and Logic Cure for the Tragedy of Entitlement – https://amzn.to/2E3dkQD
Crisis of Disengagement: How Apathy, Complacency, And Selfishness Are Destroying Today’s Workplace – https://amzn.to/2KFFku3
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