Do you have an unfaithful customer? And what are you supposed to do about it? Should you quit? Should you say something? Before you do anything – watch this. It could save your business and your customer.
Listen: What Do You Do About an Unfaithful Customer?
Watch: What Do You Do About an Unfaithful Customer?
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 to Do With an Unfaithful Customer
What do you do with an unfaithful customer? I don’t mean they’re unfaithful like they’re cheating on their spouse. I mean, they’re cheating on you as the house cleaner. They’ve got another cleaning service cleaning in the weeks you are not there.
There is a house cleaner that wrote into the show, and I’m going to read this so I don’t miss anything. “I have a client that’s been asking me to clean for her weekly instead of biweekly, but I don’t have enough time in my schedule to do it. She just informed me that she’s hired another person to clean on the week that I don’t clean. Should I just let her go? I’m afraid that the other person will use something different on the hardwood floors, or if something gets messed up, we won’t know which cleaning person did it. Am I wrong for feeling that this way? And what should I do?”
She Didn’t Go Behind Your Back to Hire Someone
All right. I love this question and I want to stop for just a second, and I want to give you a high five because she asked you first. So it’s not like she wanted to hire someone else and she was behind your back looking for another service and she’s pricing someone else and she’s going to squeeze you out.
She came to you first and she asked you, “Can you do your same cleaning for me every week instead of every other week?” And you said no because of your schedule. So she gave you the first right of refusal. So hooray, she loves you. She loves you best.
She Isn’t Cheating On You for Asking Someone Else
The next thing that we have to think about, while this feels a little bit like she cheated on you and she’s bringing somebody else in, maybe you’re up for competition and all of these things, that’s not exactly what’s happening.
Right now you’ve been cleaning her house every other week and in the in-between weeks, she’s been cleaning her own house, or maybe worse, she hasn’t been cleaning it at all. And she realizes that’s an extra burden on you and she’s trying to make your job easier.
And so instead of her cleaning on the other weeks, she’s bringing someone else in to do that for her. So she’s willing to pay someone to do that for the other weeks.
It’s Like Shopping at a Different Store
Now this will be very similar to, there’s something that you need at the store and you go to the same store every single time, but there’s this one week that you’re out of town or you’re in a different place and it’s not convenient for you to go to the other store that you normally go to all the way across town.
So you stop at a similar store or even a store by the same name and you go in and you buy the item from that store. It’s not that you’re being unfaithful to this store. It’s just that it didn’t work out that way. It is a business transaction. So don’t take it personally. Don’t think of it as, “Oh, the other company is going to mess me up.” The homeowner could have messed up.
You’re Only Responsible for When You’re There
On the weeks you’re not there the homeowner could have put something weird on the floor and then you show up and you’re like, “What on earth is this?” You’re only responsible for when you are there, and if you have a satisfaction guarantee that lasts for 24 hours.
So if she did something on the week that you’re not there, within 24 hours they’re going to say, “Well, clearly it was her that messed the thing up,” whatever it was. And if something is left unclean on the time that you are there, it will clearly be your mistake because you are the one that was there this week.
So I do recommend that you have a satisfaction guarantee and that it has a 24-hour time limit on it. If anything malfunctions in the first 24 hours, come back to the customer’s house and make it right.
You’re Both Going to Up Your Game
The good news is about the situation that you’re in right now, there is some kind of a competition going on, whether it’s spoken or whether it is admitted or whether it is acknowledged. And what that is is both of you are going to up your games. You’re both going to say, “Wait for a second, if in the event one of us gets cut, which one is it?” And you will both do your very best work to try to audition for the job. That means every time you come, you’re going to say, “Hey, I’m going to do my best job this time, because I want to be the one that gets the job in the event that one of us has to go.“
So you should be doing that at every customer’s house. So this is no different because you could be replaced at any time on any job by any customer. Customers don’t own us and we don’t own them.
It’s Just a Business Transaction
And so it’s just a business transaction. So let go of this as far as worrying, and should I let her go? No, don’t let her go, please. This is a good-paying customer that likes you. She liked you because she asked you first.
So I just want you to stop for a second and say, “Whoa, that feels uncomfortable and I’m not sure what’s going on, but it’s okay.” It’s okay because she’s trying to make your job easier by having it cleaned on the off weeks when you’re not there. So it’s all okay. It’s all right. Don’t let it bother you.
Resources
Customer Satisfaction Is Worthless, Customer Loyalty Is Priceless – https://amzn.to/3vZ1crI
Never Lose a Customer Again: Turn Any Sale into Lifelong Loyalty in 100 Days – https://amzn.to/3w8p50b
Leading Loyalty: Cracking the Code to Customer Devotion – https://amzn.to/3spAo1p
Customer Success: How Innovative Companies Are Reducing Churn and Growing Recurring Revenue – https://amzn.to/3ckaoPs
Superfans: The Easy Way to Stand Out, Grow Your Tribe, And Build a Successful Business – https://amzn.to/3vZ7esa
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