“You’re Fired” (part 1 of 2)
Yesterday a Client fired my company, and I’m here to tell you that we earned it. My only surprise was that it took this long.
In life, I believe we almost always get what we bargain for, so most of the time we get what we deserve. We deserved to be fired months ago.
In performing this Clients forensic autopsy we realize that the root cause of our problem today, was what we did 5 months previously. And when I say we, I mean me.
I didn’t stick to You’ve Got MAIDS™ core values when I gave this particular over-the-phone-estimate, and I will address that in "You're Fired" Part 2.
In life, I believe we almost always get what we bargain for, so most of the time we get what we deserve. We deserved to be fired months ago.
In performing this Clients forensic autopsy we realize that the root cause of our problem today, was what we did 5 months previously. And when I say we, I mean me.
I didn’t stick to You’ve Got MAIDS™ core values when I gave this particular over-the-phone-estimate, and I will address that in "You're Fired" Part 2.
I utilize a computer program that takes into account for all sorts of variables and gives an incredibly accurate estimate of how long it will take to clean a home to our standards. Once I know how long a cleaning will take, I can easily derive a fair price for our services. We are normally +/- 15 minutes on our estimates. In fact we are more accurate on the over-the-phone-estimate than the in-home-estimate, but that is fodder for another blog.
This Orlando based professional housekeeping office is our personal Petri Dish in which we closely scrutinize and test how different circumstances, fact patterns, actions, policies, training program, and marketing vehicles all deliver measurable results. Naturally our goal is to do more of the stuff that brings positive results and less of what incurs a negative outcome.
Mrs. “L” came to me after their last so called “maid service” kept failing to deliver the goods. They had seen our really cool company cars driving around Maitland, FL for some time and were ready to try on a new maid service.
Mrs. “L” told me all about her current maid service. She said her house keepers would show up at all kinds of hours, never when promised, and it was not uncommon for her to wait all day only to be called at 4pm to inform her that the maids would need to reschedule. The house keepers never spoke English (but she knew they could). These maids would rush through her house, were not thorough, not detailed, had an unacceptable number of breakages, and recently had broken her vacuum!
Mrs. “L” gave up complaining to her then current maid service, because the owners would rarely pick up the phone, and worst yet her feedback was never utilized. She learned that she was wasting her time. This went on for 2 years.
I was excited to hear about the shoddy service and substandard performance her previous maid service provided because I knew we could easily impress her. I knew that we always report to our house cleanings when promised. I knew that we don’t rush our maids to clean more houses, so they do a better job with the details. I knew that if she had a concern, she could call the office or email feedback on our website, and that we would quickly resolve whatever concern she might have. I knew that our team leaders always speak English. I knew that we would never break her vacuum because what type of housekeeping company can’t afford its own vacuums? Note: if a so-called professional maid service skimps on purchasing a $700 vacuum, what do you think they do when it comes to insurance?
Check back for the second installment of "You're Fired" where I will detail how Mrs. "L" and I got exactly what we bargained for and precisely what we deserve. The only difference is that Mrs. "L" will most likely repeat the cycle all over again, while I hope to lead my company away from...
This Orlando based professional housekeeping office is our personal Petri Dish in which we closely scrutinize and test how different circumstances, fact patterns, actions, policies, training program, and marketing vehicles all deliver measurable results. Naturally our goal is to do more of the stuff that brings positive results and less of what incurs a negative outcome.
Mrs. “L” came to me after their last so called “maid service” kept failing to deliver the goods. They had seen our really cool company cars driving around Maitland, FL for some time and were ready to try on a new maid service.
Mrs. “L” told me all about her current maid service. She said her house keepers would show up at all kinds of hours, never when promised, and it was not uncommon for her to wait all day only to be called at 4pm to inform her that the maids would need to reschedule. The house keepers never spoke English (but she knew they could). These maids would rush through her house, were not thorough, not detailed, had an unacceptable number of breakages, and recently had broken her vacuum!
Mrs. “L” gave up complaining to her then current maid service, because the owners would rarely pick up the phone, and worst yet her feedback was never utilized. She learned that she was wasting her time. This went on for 2 years.
I was excited to hear about the shoddy service and substandard performance her previous maid service provided because I knew we could easily impress her. I knew that we always report to our house cleanings when promised. I knew that we don’t rush our maids to clean more houses, so they do a better job with the details. I knew that if she had a concern, she could call the office or email feedback on our website, and that we would quickly resolve whatever concern she might have. I knew that our team leaders always speak English. I knew that we would never break her vacuum because what type of housekeeping company can’t afford its own vacuums? Note: if a so-called professional maid service skimps on purchasing a $700 vacuum, what do you think they do when it comes to insurance?
Check back for the second installment of "You're Fired" where I will detail how Mrs. "L" and I got exactly what we bargained for and precisely what we deserve. The only difference is that Mrs. "L" will most likely repeat the cycle all over again, while I hope to lead my company away from...
