Did you turn into a sloppy house cleaner during covid? Did your brand take a deep dive while you were taking a breather? If you don’t catch it now – it could cost your business big time.
Listen: Sloppy House Cleaner
Watch: Sloppy House Cleaner
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.
Are You a Sloppy House Cleaner?
Are you a sloppy house cleaner or do your customers think you are a sloppy house cleaner? Somebody wrote in to the show and they have this concern. They said that their house cleaner became sloppy, and as we started exchanging emails back and forth the story unraveled. The house cleaner still does a really great job and their work is proficient and it’s great, but the sloppy housecleaning idea came from the house cleaners themselves. Here’s what happened.
House Cleaners Had to Shut Down During COVID
During COVID when the world shut down so did the house cleaner. They got up every day and they went to the couple of jobs that they had on a couple of days a week that they had those jobs and on the other days they didn’t shower and they didn’t shave and they kind of grew a little bit scruffy, right?
So this guy shows up and normally he’s very clean-cut, he’s well presented, his clothes are pressed, he wears a uniform, he looks fantastic, and all of a sudden he looks like a mountain man. He’s got this long beard, he stopped coloring it, I guess he was coloring his hair before, it’s now gray.
And because he was looking sloppier, his clothes were not pressed either, so like he jumped out of bed and he just threw on a shirt and now it’s wrinkled. And so she says, “My house cleaner is really sloppy now and I don’t know why. I don’t know if he’s going through something personal, I don’t know what the problem is, but I can’t recommend him to my friends anymore and I’m really embarrassed because I’ve given him referrals, now he’s showing up to my friend’s houses and they’re like, what is going on with this guy?”
COVID Has Changed the Whole World
Okay, well, so COVID happened and the rest of the world changed. Yes, it’s true. We now get on Zoom calls, we see people who all day have been dressed from the eyes up because they’re wearing their face masks, they get to a call, they take it off, they have no makeup on except for the eyes. They have not done their hair, they have not shaved.
If it’s a guy we’re seeing a lot of instead of professional, well-dressed looking professionals we’re seeing people that are wearing hoodies or pajamas or whatever, right? They’re eating burritos and pizza while they’re on the call with us, and there’s this kind of this lazy daisy attitude of I don’t really care anymore.
As a Professional, You Still Have to Look Professional
But what I need to challenge you to be aware of, and this is for all professionals everywhere, is that while you are still kind of taking it easy on COVID you’re still part of a brand, and that is your company brand and that’s how your customers feel about you.
And if your customer is behind your back feeling like wow, they’ve gone off in the deep end, they don’t look professional. I’m embarrassed that they’re coming to my house, I’m embarrassed to be recommending them, maybe you should up your game again. Maybe you should realize that wait for a second, I have a brand I have to protect.
What Happens When COVID is Over?
And what happens when COVID is over and business picks up again? What happens when you go out there, your customers are going to remember how you were during this weird period of time where you didn’t shower and you didn’t shave and you wore pajamas or wrinkly clothes to work, and you didn’t promote that brand. Now what happens and what that translates into, and here’s the reason why it’s important for house cleaners.
How You Present Yourself Represents Your Quality
When you show up to a house if you are clean and pressed and articulate and you present yourself in a manner of the highest level of performance that translates into the highest level of performance and pay from your customer, right?
They’re going to think you did the best job, they are going to recommend that. But if it’s sloppy, what they’re going to think of is well wait for a second, the work is sloppy as well. Why am I paying top dollar for a sloppy house cleaner? And so maybe it’s just you that’s sloppy and the work is still proficient and looks fantastic.
But what they perceive as is the whole overall picture, what they see coming to their house is disheveled and sloppy and they don’t want to pay for that, they don’t want to pay top dollar for that.
Take a Look at Your Whole Business
So my encouragement to you is are you a sloppy house cleaner and just stop, take a look, take a look at your person, take a look at your cleaning caddy, take a look at your car.
Did you kind of let things slide during COVID or are you still on top of your game? That’s my question to you. And if you are sliding and sloppy get back on top of your game, because right now you have a chance to save your brand. I encourage you to do so.
Resources
Uniform tops for men and women https://amazon.com/shop/angelabrown
Shoe covers https://amazon.com/shop/angelabrown
Disposable gloves – https://amazon.com/shop/angelabrown
Disposable face masks – https://amazon.com/shop/angelabrown
Uniform pants for men and women – https://amazon.com/shop/angelabrown
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