{"id":4804,"date":"2017-05-05T03:00:49","date_gmt":"2017-05-05T07:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/?p=4804"},"modified":"2018-01-31T09:44:33","modified_gmt":"2018-01-31T14:44:33","slug":"gift-giving-house-cleaners-bring-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/gift-giving-house-cleaners-bring-gifts\/","title":{"rendered":"Gift Giving &#8211; Should House Cleaners Bring Gifts?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Gift giving on Mother\u2019s Day? House Cleaners and Maids wonder what cool little things they can do to celebrate Mother\u2019s Day. Turns out The House Cleaning Guru, Angela Brown has very strong opinions about gift giving, manipulations, expectations, and bribery. Gift giving on Mother\u2019s Day, Easter, Christmas and Birthdays set a precedent that is hard to manage as your business grows.<br \/>\nWant to give a gift that keeps on giving, that helps you grow your cleaning business and prevents the customers from expecting gifts? Tune into today\u2019s episode of Ask a House Cleaner<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/ask-house-cleaner-angela-brown-savvy-cleaner-house\/id1219964465?mt=2\" data-lasso-id=\"2046\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4631 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/0-Podcast-Rss-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg\" alt=\"Podcast Rss Spacer Savvy Cleaner\" width=\"720\" height=\"94\" srcset=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/0-Podcast-Rss-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg 760w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/0-Podcast-Rss-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-270x36.jpg 270w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/0-Podcast-Rss-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-320x42.jpg 320w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/0-Podcast-Rss-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-300x39.jpg 300w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/0-Podcast-Rss-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-400x53.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Listen: Gift Giving &#8211; Should House Cleaners Bring Gifts?<\/h2>\n<p><center><iframe style=\"border: none;\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/5328738\/height\/90\/width\/640\/theme\/custom\/autonext\/no\/thumbnail\/yes\/autoplay\/no\/preload\/no\/no_addthis\/no\/direction\/backward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/87A93A\/\" width=\"640\" height=\"90\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/iNyp7U\" data-lasso-id=\"2047\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ngg-singlepic ngg-none aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/gallery\/Savvy-Cleaner-Spacers\/0-YouTube-spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg\" alt=\"YouTube Spacer Savvy Cleaner\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Watch:&nbsp;Gift Giving &#8211; Should House Cleaners Bring Gifts?<\/h2>\n<p><center><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XFrgV_NZhSs?loop=1&amp;rel=0\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/center>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hi there, I&#8217;m <a href=\"http:\/\/AngelaBrown.com\" data-lasso-id=\"2048\">Angela Brown<\/a>, and this is Ask a House Cleaner. This is a show where you get to ask a house cleaning question, I get to help you find an answer.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ngg-singlepic ngg-none alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/gallery\/Savvy-Cleaner-Spacers\/0-AAHC-DIY-Question-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg\" alt=\"Ask a House Cleaner DIY Question Spacer Savvy Cleaner\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Question: Gift Giving &#8211; Should House Cleaners Bring Gifts?<\/h2>\n<p>Okay, so, today&#8217;s question comes from several house cleaners that are getting ready for Mother&#8217;s Day.<\/p>\n<p>And they want to know <em><strong>&#8220;What little gifts or trinkets or kind things can I do to celebrate Moms on Mother&#8217;s Day?&#8221;<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ngg-singlepic ngg-none aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/gallery\/Savvy-Cleaner-Spacers\/0-AAHC-Answer-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg\" alt=\"Ask a House Cleaner Answer Spacer Savvy Cleaner\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Answer: Gift Giving &#8211; Should House Cleaners Bring Gifts?<\/h2>\n<p>Okay, I&#8217;m going to answer that question. And you&#8217;re not going to like my answer.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m very opinionated about this because I&#8217;ve been in the business for twenty-five years. Here&#8217;s what I have proven again, and again, and again.<\/p>\n<p>Number one, gift giving is not sustainable.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">&nbsp;<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4814 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Gift-of-Flowers-for-Mothers-Day-400x225.jpg\" alt=\"Gift of Flowers for Mothers Day\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Gift-of-Flowers-for-Mothers-Day-400x225.jpg 400w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Gift-of-Flowers-for-Mothers-Day-270x152.jpg 270w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Gift-of-Flowers-for-Mothers-Day-320x180.jpg 320w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Gift-of-Flowers-for-Mothers-Day-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Gift-of-Flowers-for-Mothers-Day-250x140.jpg 250w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Gift-of-Flowers-for-Mothers-Day.jpg 672w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/>When You Give a Gift &#8211; Beware<\/h2>\n<p>So, if you give something to all the mothers this year on Mother&#8217;s Day, next year when Mother&#8217;s Day comes around, they are going to expect whatever it is you gave them this year, or the equivalent of.<\/p>\n<p>So, let&#8217;s say that this year as a nice little gesture you give them a nice bouquet of flowers.<\/p>\n<p>Okay, the nice bouquet of flowers probably costs you what? $10? $15? $20 bucks?<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s a lot of money for one customer.<\/p>\n<p>And when you add that up, for all of the customers that you have, that can become a very costly expense.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Do You Give a Gift For Every Holiday?&nbsp;<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4813 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Gift-of-Easter-Basket-400x225.jpg\" alt=\"Gift of Easter Basket\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Gift-of-Easter-Basket-400x225.jpg 400w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Gift-of-Easter-Basket-270x152.jpg 270w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Gift-of-Easter-Basket-320x180.jpg 320w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Gift-of-Easter-Basket-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Gift-of-Easter-Basket-250x140.jpg 250w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Gift-of-Easter-Basket.jpg 672w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/h2>\n<p>Now, we just came off of Easter.<\/p>\n<p>And there was one of our house cleaners that decided she wanted to give all of her customer&#8217;s kids an Easter basket that had little candy and toys and fun things in it to remember her by.<\/p>\n<p>So, she did, but what she didn&#8217;t consider when she started this little process was that, (and this is her first year in business.) &nbsp;What she did not consider was that there were about 60 kids between the twenty or thirty families that she worked for.<\/p>\n<p>So, try buying 60 Easter baskets at $20 dollars apiece or $15.99 or whatever. They&#8217;re not cheap.<\/p>\n<p>She spent almost a&nbsp;thousand dollars on Easter baskets. And what did she get out of it?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4755 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Social-Media-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg\" alt=\"Social Media Spacer Savvy Cleaner\" width=\"760\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Social-Media-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg 760w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Social-Media-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-270x36.jpg 270w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Social-Media-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-320x42.jpg 320w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Social-Media-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-300x39.jpg 300w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Social-Media-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-400x53.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) 100vw, 760px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">What Are Your Reasons For Giving the Gift?<\/h2>\n<p>I mean they were like <em>&#8220;hey thanks, yeah whatever.&#8221;<\/em> And you know, they kicked the baskets around and ate the candy. Although, it did not necessarily make her any more memorable in the eyes of the consumer.<\/p>\n<p>And then what happens is this, they are going to expect it next year. <em>&#8220;Well, last year you brought us an Easter basket, are you bringing us one again?&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>So, it gets really expensive and it&#8217;s not sustainable over the long haul. This year she is only one person.<\/p>\n<p>But next year as she expands her business, and the year after that as her business grows exponentially, the customers that have heard about that, and the customers that are in on the Easter basket thing, are going to expect more Easter baskets every year.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4730 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Cash-spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg\" alt=\"Cash spacer Savvy Cleaner\" width=\"760\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Cash-spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg 760w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Cash-spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-270x36.jpg 270w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Cash-spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-320x42.jpg 320w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Cash-spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-300x39.jpg 300w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Cash-spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-400x53.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) 100vw, 760px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Do You Have a Budget For Gift Giving?<\/h2>\n<p>And so, the question is, how do you afford Easter baskets for all of the different kids as your business grows?<\/p>\n<p>And you can&#8217;t give it to some and not to others because people talk. You&#8217;re working in the same neighborhood right?So, what you do to one customer, you kind of have to do to all of them.<\/p>\n<p>Now, back to the Mother&#8217;s Day thing, here&#8217;s a really sticky situation.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4817 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/House-Cleaners-gift-of-flowers-competes-with-gift-form-clients-kids-400x225.jpg\" alt=\"House Cleaners gift of flowers competes with gift form client's kids\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/House-Cleaners-gift-of-flowers-competes-with-gift-form-clients-kids-400x225.jpg 400w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/House-Cleaners-gift-of-flowers-competes-with-gift-form-clients-kids-270x152.jpg 270w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/House-Cleaners-gift-of-flowers-competes-with-gift-form-clients-kids-320x180.jpg 320w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/House-Cleaners-gift-of-flowers-competes-with-gift-form-clients-kids-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/House-Cleaners-gift-of-flowers-competes-with-gift-form-clients-kids-250x140.jpg 250w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/House-Cleaners-gift-of-flowers-competes-with-gift-form-clients-kids.jpg 672w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/>Be Careful Your Gift Doesn&#8217;t Outshine The Family&#8217;s Gift, They&#8217;ll Hate You For it<\/h2>\n<p>Let&#8217;s say that you buy a beautiful bouquet of flowers for a woman whose house you clean. But her children or her husband did not. Or maybe they bought her flowers of lesser value, or not as beautiful.<\/p>\n<p>Okay, so the cleaning lady just kind of outsmarted and outshined what the rest of the family is doing for Mom for Mother&#8217;s Day.<\/p>\n<p>And the mother may really appreciate the gesture and she may feel important and grateful to you that you brought her these flowers, but&nbsp;she may resent that her family didn&#8217;t step up to the plate. You&#8217;ve just rubbed salt in that wound.<\/p>\n<p>What are you going to do next year? Bring her more flowers? It&#8217;s not sustainable year after year.<\/p>\n<p>The next thing beyond setting a precedence that people are going to come to expect&nbsp;every year is that it&#8217;s expensive.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4106\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Question-3-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg\" alt=\"Question 3 Spacer Savvy Cleaner\" width=\"760\" height=\"100\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Think Through Your Gifts Before You Create a Monster<\/h2>\n<p>There was one woman who set a precedence that every year on your birthday you would get a free house cleaning.&nbsp;<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4815 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Happy-Birthday-Gift-of-Free-House-Cleaning-400x225.jpg\" alt=\"Happy Birthday Gift of Free House Cleaning\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Happy-Birthday-Gift-of-Free-House-Cleaning-400x225.jpg 400w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Happy-Birthday-Gift-of-Free-House-Cleaning-270x152.jpg 270w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Happy-Birthday-Gift-of-Free-House-Cleaning-320x180.jpg 320w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Happy-Birthday-Gift-of-Free-House-Cleaning-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Happy-Birthday-Gift-of-Free-House-Cleaning-250x140.jpg 250w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Happy-Birthday-Gift-of-Free-House-Cleaning.jpg 672w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Yay. Right?<\/p>\n<p>Okay, well, house cleaning costs anywhere from what a hundred to two-hundred plus dollars.<\/p>\n<p>And so, we figured out over the course of the year, the free birthday gift, (had she been paid for the jobs,) &nbsp;the free birthday gifts that she gave away, added up to over $7,600 dollars in one year.<\/p>\n<p>Okay, what&#8217;s weird about that is this.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">That Is The Price of a Car Payment For One Year<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4816 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Happy-Birthday-Gift-or-company-car-400x225.jpg\" alt=\"Happy Birthday Gift or company car\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Happy-Birthday-Gift-or-company-car-400x225.jpg 400w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Happy-Birthday-Gift-or-company-car-270x152.jpg 270w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Happy-Birthday-Gift-or-company-car-320x180.jpg 320w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Happy-Birthday-Gift-or-company-car-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Happy-Birthday-Gift-or-company-car-250x140.jpg 250w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Happy-Birthday-Gift-or-company-car.jpg 672w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/>If you were going to expand your business, that&#8217;s another car (or two) you could bring into your fleet.<\/p>\n<p>So, as you expand your business, that&#8217;s a useful tax deduction. Giving people birthday gifts, you might be able to figure out a way to tax deduct it. I don&#8217;t know. I would talk to your accountant.<\/p>\n<p>But why? Why would you do that?<\/p>\n<p>And here&#8217;s the question behind that, it&#8217;s a nice gesture, but it doesn&#8217;t bring in any new business. These people are already your clients.<\/p>\n<p>And what happened was people told their friends;&nbsp;<em>&#8220;Well, my house cleaner gives a free house cleaning on the birthday.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4254 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Oops-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg\" alt=\"Oops Spacer Savvy Cleaner\" width=\"760\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Oops-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg 760w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Oops-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-270x36.jpg 270w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Oops-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-320x42.jpg 320w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Oops-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-300x39.jpg 300w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Oops-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-400x53.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) 100vw, 760px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">What Happens When Gift Giving Backfires?<\/h2>\n<p>And so, there were people signing up <em>&#8220;Oh, hey, it&#8217;s my birthday.&#8221;<\/em> And so, they would get the free house cleaning and then they would fire her.<\/p>\n<p>She was furious with herself for giving free birthday gifts to people she didn&#8217;t even know, that weren&#8217;t her regular customers. And she hired me to help her get out of the mess she&#8217;d gotten herself into.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not sustainable once you start hiring lots of people either. Your business grows, now you&#8217;re paying people to what? Go give a free birthday cleaning?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This is not a charity. This is not a tax deduction. It&#8217;s a weird gift.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4811 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Easter-Gift-Youre-Not-the-Easter-Bunny-400x338.jpg\" alt=\"Dont Give Easter Gift, You're Not the Easter Bunny\" width=\"400\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Easter-Gift-Youre-Not-the-Easter-Bunny-400x338.jpg 400w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Easter-Gift-Youre-Not-the-Easter-Bunny-270x228.jpg 270w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Easter-Gift-Youre-Not-the-Easter-Bunny-320x270.jpg 320w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Easter-Gift-Youre-Not-the-Easter-Bunny-300x253.jpg 300w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Easter-Gift-Youre-Not-the-Easter-Bunny.jpg 448w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/>Service Providers Giving Gifts is Weird<\/h2>\n<p>Speaking of gifts, and we talked about the girl that gave out the Easter baskets. She&#8217;s not the Easter Bunny.<\/p>\n<p>She is not Santa. You&#8217;re not expected at Christmas time to give gifts to all the family.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s weird for this reason, as a house cleaner or a maid, you&#8217;re a service business.<\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;re a paid service provider. Somebody pays you to come in the home, you do a service, they give you money.<\/p>\n<p>Okay? You&#8217;re not a member of the family.&nbsp;<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4810 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Christmas-Gift-Youre-Not-Santa-400x332.jpg\" alt=\"Dont Give Christmas Gift, You're Not Santa\" width=\"400\" height=\"332\" srcset=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Christmas-Gift-Youre-Not-Santa-400x332.jpg 400w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Christmas-Gift-Youre-Not-Santa-270x224.jpg 270w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Christmas-Gift-Youre-Not-Santa-320x266.jpg 320w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Christmas-Gift-Youre-Not-Santa-300x249.jpg 300w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Christmas-Gift-Youre-Not-Santa.jpg 455w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;re not expected or obligated under any way to provide pumpkin pies at Thanksgiving, or flowers for Mother&#8217;s Day. Christmas gifts at Christmas, and Easter baskets at Easter time.<\/p>\n<p>What is that?<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4812 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Halloween-Gift-It-looks-like-approval-addiction-400x225.jpg\" alt=\"Dont Give Halloween Gift, It looks like approval addiction\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Halloween-Gift-It-looks-like-approval-addiction-400x225.jpg 400w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Halloween-Gift-It-looks-like-approval-addiction-270x152.jpg 270w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Halloween-Gift-It-looks-like-approval-addiction-320x180.jpg 320w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Halloween-Gift-It-looks-like-approval-addiction-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Halloween-Gift-It-looks-like-approval-addiction-250x140.jpg 250w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Dont-Give-Halloween-Gift-It-looks-like-approval-addiction.jpg 672w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/>Customers Give Their Service Providers Gifts &#8211; Not The Other Way Around<\/h2>\n<p>There are no other service businesses that&nbsp;give (seemingly manipulative) gifts to their clients.<\/p>\n<p>Your landscaper does not bring you Easter baskets on Easter time.<\/p>\n<p>He does not bring you pies at Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n<p>The guy that comes to fix your air conditioning unit he does not bring pies. He does not bring you gifts at Christmas.<\/p>\n<p>The lady at the hair salon she might give you a five-dollar discount on your nails or your hair, but guess what? She doesn&#8217;t give you free service. You&#8217;re the one that gives her the tip and the gift. Not the other way around.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>She runs a business. She provides a service. If you are the consumer, you are the one who gives the gifts.<\/p>\n<p>She doesn&#8217;t give you Easter baskets and buy you gifts and these other things. That&#8217;s just weird.&nbsp;Like she&#8217;s trying too hard to compensate for lousy service.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4347\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/5-Stars-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg\" alt=\"5 Stars Spacer Savvy Cleaner\" width=\"760\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/5-Stars-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg 760w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/5-Stars-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-270x36.jpg 270w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/5-Stars-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-320x42.jpg 320w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/5-Stars-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-300x39.jpg 300w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/5-Stars-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-400x53.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) 100vw, 760px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">If You Want to Be Outstanding, Provide Outstanding Service<\/h2>\n<p>And so, I appreciate the fact that you want to give a little bit more. So, my suggestion is this: Be an excellent house cleaner every single time you clean.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to be outstanding, do outstanding work.<\/p>\n<p>Get to the point where people refer you and people talk about you and people love what you do because you are excellent. Not because you bring Easter baskets and you give them candles on Mother\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n<p>Those are all the wrong reasons. And if you want to&nbsp;give a gift, make sure there is no hidden agenda or mysterious expectation from the client that they are unaware of.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4344\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Note-spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg\" alt=\"Note Spacer Savvy Cleaner\" width=\"760\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Note-spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg 760w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Note-spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-270x36.jpg 270w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Note-spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-320x42.jpg 320w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Note-spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-300x39.jpg 300w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Note-spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-400x53.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) 100vw, 760px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">When You Give a Gift, Make Sure It&#8217;s For the Right Reasons<\/h2>\n<p>So, if you want to go out a limb and you want to give someone a gift card, or you want to take them out to lunch or you want to give them flowers or balloons or whatever, you can. Just don&#8217;t attach it to a holiday or a recurring event.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">You don&#8217;t want them expecting <em>&#8220;Oh, it&#8217;s my birthday again, so she&#8217;s going to bring me some gifts. Oh, it&#8217;s Christmas gain, she&#8217;s going to bring me&nbsp;goodies.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Right? We train people how to accept us. And the truth of the matter is, you&#8217;re already accepted.<\/p>\n<p>They&#8217;ve already hired you. They are already paying you for your service.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3967 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Scarcity-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg\" alt=\"Scarcity Spacer Savvy Cleaner\" width=\"760\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Scarcity-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg 760w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Scarcity-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-270x36.jpg 270w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Scarcity-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-320x42.jpg 320w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Scarcity-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-300x39.jpg 300w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Scarcity-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-400x53.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) 100vw, 760px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">You Don&#8217;t Get Extra Accepted Because You Give a Gift<\/h2>\n<p>You don&#8217;t get extra accepted anymore or liked anymore if you make jars of jelly and give your customers bottles of wine and little soaps, chocolates and handmade things.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a nice gesture, but it doesn&#8217;t bring any more business in the door. These people are already your customers.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re spending seventy-six hundred dollars a year to get people to like you, then there are other issues (approval addiction and <a href=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/people-pleasing-pros-cons\/\" data-lasso-id=\"2049\">people pleasing<\/a>) going beside you doing excellent work.<\/p>\n<p>So, my answer for you is don&#8217;t buy gifts for your house cleaning clients. It&#8217;s not expected. And you don&#8217;t want to compete with the what the family was going to do to celebrate their holiday.<\/p>\n<p>Some&nbsp;people are scraping by in order to have a clean home, but they&#8217;re not going to buy lavish gifts. Don&#8217;t be the one that provides lavish gifts. Because its just&nbsp;awkward for everyone involved.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4457\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Like-Thumbs-Up-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg\" alt=\"Like Thumbs Up Spacer Savvy Cleaner\" width=\"760\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Like-Thumbs-Up-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg 760w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Like-Thumbs-Up-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-270x36.jpg 270w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Like-Thumbs-Up-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-320x42.jpg 320w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Like-Thumbs-Up-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-300x39.jpg 300w, https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Like-Thumbs-Up-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner-400x53.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) 100vw, 760px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>So that&#8217;s my two cents on that, and if you like this tip, or you found it helpful, go ahead and pass it on. Share it with a friend. Or you can leave comments in the section below and you can argue with me and tell me why you should leave gifts. And I would love to hear your opinion as well.<\/p>\n<p>Until I see you again, leave the world a cleaner place than when you found it.<\/p>\n<h3><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ngg-singlepic ngg-none aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-content\/gallery\/Savvy-Cleaner-Spacers\/0-Savvy-Cleaner-Spacer-Savvy-Cleaner.jpg\" alt=\"0 Savvy Cleaner Spacer Savvy Cleaner\"\/>Disclosure<\/h3>\n<p><span data-offset-key=\"qias-0-0\">During the shows we recommend services, sites, and products to help you improve your cleaning and grow your cleaning business<\/span><span data-offset-key=\"qias-1-0\">. We have partnerships with these companies to provide you with discounts, and savings.&nbsp;<\/span><span data-offset-key=\"qias-2-0\">By clicking on and buying from the links in the show notes, we may receive a commission which helps pay for the production costs of the show<\/span><span data-offset-key=\"qias-3-0\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-offset-key=\"crkvf-0-0\">Support the show so we can continue to bring you free tips to improve your cleaning and help you grow your cleaning business. &nbsp;THANK YOU!<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>About the Show<\/h3>\n<p>Learn how the <a href=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/show\/\" data-lasso-id=\"2050\">show<\/a>&nbsp;came to be, interesting facts about the show host, and other frequently asked questions about the show.<\/p>\n<h3>Resources For This Episode<\/h3>\n<h3>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Permissions To Share<\/h3>\n<p data-offset-key=\"crkvf-0-0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/creative-commons-license-for-sharing\/\" data-lasso-id=\"2051\">You Have Our Permission To Share This Episode<\/a><\/p>\n<h3 data-offset-key=\"crkvf-0-0\">Show Sponsor<\/h3>\n<p>SAVVY CLEANER &#8211; House Cleaner Training and Certification \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/savvycleaner.com\" data-lasso-id=\"2052\">https:\/\/savvycleaner.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>HOUSECLEANING360 \u2013 Referral database of the world\u2019s most prominent home service providers and the homeowners they serve. <a href=\"https:\/\/housecleaning360.com\" data-lasso-id=\"2053\">https:\/\/housecleaning360.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gift giving on Mother\u2019s Day? House Cleaners and Maids wonder what cool little things they can do to celebrate Mother\u2019s Day. Turns out The House Cleaning Guru, Angela Brown has very strong opinions about gift giving, manipulations, expectations, and bribery. Gift giving on Mother\u2019s Day, Easter, Christmas and Birthdays set a precedent that is hard [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1695,"featured_media":4805,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[871],"tags":[545,542,543,547,544,546],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4804"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1695"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/askahousecleaner.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}