MAID SERVICE HUMOR

Here is a humorous European commercial featuring two maids and a mop...

PAWSHANK REDEMPTION (THE GREAT MAID SERVICE CAT ESCAPE)

Last week a You’ve Got MAIDS house cleaner must have allowed a Clients Cat to escape. I just learned about it yesterday.

Carolyn, a You’ve Got MAIDS Client, returned home on her scheduled maid service day to find their Cat, “WG”, missing. WG didn't pull an Andy Dupree "who crawled through a river of kitty litter and came out clean on the other side". No, WG most likely walked right out the front door...a true Pawshank Redemption.

Her husband spent 4 hours combing the neighborhood and thankfully found “WG”. Carolyn let a week pass before sending me the most polite email of the week.

Carolyn’s email begins…Dear Frank and Cynthia, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving…She then detailed what happened…Next she spoke to how important her pets are to her…and lastly she gave detailed instructions on how to manage WG in the future. Carolyn even detailed where the maids could find WG's cat treats!

Our maids messed up. Carolyn and her husband could have berated us over the phone for an hour and then fired us as the exclamation point, but she didn’t. She forgave us! She also gave us feedback that will improve the likelihood that this will never happen again in her house. It won’t, because we have your number WG. WG you can plan your great escape when the plumber visits, but you aren’t going to slip past You’ve Got MAIDS again.

Click here for TIPS TO FIND A LOST CAT OR DOG courtesy of PETRESCUE.COM. Here are a few tips that jumped out at me:

1. First, search your property thoroughly.


2. Walk the neighborhood, talk to everybody, and leave your phone number.


3. Make some noise while you walk around the neighborhood! Animals can hear you from great distances.


4. Place strong-scented articles outside your home to attract your pet. Animals find their way by scent as well as sound.
   

HELP ME RHONDA

Brian Wilson and his cousin Mike Love, put their heads together and wrote the words Help me Rhonda, Help, Help me Rhonda… The character Jerry McGuire (played by New Jersey native Tom Cruise) told his client Help me…help you. Help me, help you. The Beach Boys wrote the sound track for the 1988 film Cocktail staring the aforementioned New Jersey resident which naturally brings us back to Rhonda.

It is so easy to get bogged down by other people’s negativity. Poisonous people surround us…we have to be eternally vigilant not to allow them to infect us.

Just yesterday I was lamenting over Angry Maid Service Consumers. It’s true, sometimes I feel sorry for myself. This blog is a form of therapy intended to help the author to shake off the Rhonda’s of this world. So who is Rhonda?

Rhonda called for an estimate to clean her East Orlando Home. Here are the facts on Rhonda’s home: 2800 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, mostly carpeted, 2 adults, 1 shedding dog, 1 shedding cat, 2 of the bedrooms are for guest and rarely used, 1 out of 3 showers in use, formal living room, formal dining room, family room, den, office, small laundry room, 3 sliding glass doors, 4 ceiling fans, some decorations, & some clutter.

Despite rumors to the contrary, most shedding dogs really do make a bigger mess than husbands, but I digress. I entered all the details that Rhonda provided into our computer software. Next I gave her an objective estimate for how long it will take to clean her house based solely on the information she provided. Once I know how long it will take it is easy to assign a fair price.

Rhonda hit the roof when I told her the price. It was then that I learned that Rhonda had gone through many maid services and all had failed to please her. Rhonda told me that Royale Maid couldn’t show up when they promised but they cleaned well enough for her and Molly Maids would show up when they promised but they didn’t clean up to her standards. She mentioned a few other services that failed to please her. If Rhonda had problems with Royale Maid, and Rhonda had problems with Molly Maids, and Rhonda had issues with a few other house cleaning services in Orlando, perhaps the problem is not with the maid services. May I be so bold to suggest that perchance the problem is with Rhonda?

I explained that our company goal was not to be cheap. Being cheap is never a good long term strategy if your company intends to provide outstanding Customer service. I just can’t allow the Rhonda’s of this world to change my fixed opinion on this topic.

I took Rhonda for her word that we were $25 more than Molly Maids. I told Rhonda that was unusual as we are normally pretty competitive with Molly Maids and the other legitimate maid service providers that we respect.

I reminded her that the reason she was calling me was that she had fired Molly Maids, and asked her how long Molly Maids was spending in her house. Rhonda told me that Molly Maids would send 2 maids for 1.5 hours. I informed her that my estimate, based on the information she provided, projected her house would take 4.1 maid hours. What’s a maid hour Rhonda asks? I explained and pointed out that Molly Maids was actually spending less time (3.0 maid hours) than we felt was necessary. Further they were charging her more per maid hour than You’ve Got MAIDS! The problem wasn’t that Molly Maids was doing a poor job; the problem was that Molly Maids was giving Rhonda what she paid for.

Then Rhonda switched tactics and told me we were only cleaning half her home. I try not to come off like a wise guy, but I shot back that changes everything…which half do you want cleaned? With that Rhonda said I’m done with this conversation and hangs up. I kid you not.

The Beach Boys sang it best…
Well since she put me down Ive been out doin in my head…
Come in late at night and in the mornin I just lay in bed…
Well, Rhonda you look so fine (look so fine)…
And I know it wouldn’t take much time…
For you to help me Rhonda…
Help me get her out of my heart…
Help me Rhonda
Help, help me Rhonda
Help me Rhonda
Help, help me Rhonda
Help me Rhonda
Help, help me Rhonda
Help me Rhonda
Help,…

Naturally, Rhonda is a pseudonym, but everything else is genuine.

STILL ANGRY AT YOUR LAST MAID?

Every week we get phone calls from prospective Clients that learned about us from a friend or family. Perhaps they saw one of our yellow maid-mobiles parked in front of a neighbor’s home or discovered us while their fingers were doing the walking in the Yellow Pages. These phone calls come from no less than 3 distinctive groups of people.

#1 Window shoppers. They have identified that their lives would be more enjoyable and productive if they delegated the repetitive, mind numbing household chores of keeping the bathrooms clean, dusting the mantle & wiping down the kitchen baseboards. They have never used maid service in the past and often hold preconceptions that combine Rosie the Robot from the Jetson’s and housekeeper from the Brady Bunch. Click here to read why Alice doesn’t live here anymore.

#2 Seasoned Maid Service Consumers. They know what they want, and they are determined to get what they need. They appreciate the difference German engineering can make on their local autobahn and they are willing to pay a premium for quality products & quality services. They recognize that the quality of service they require isn’t limited to the quality of cleaning, but rather extends to their ability to communicate freely with professional management.

#3 Angry Maid Service Consumers. These folks can’t wait to tell us about their last house cleaning service. They have some great stories! Sometime they describe, in great detail, how every housecleaning service they have ever used failed to measure up. More often than not this person has always chosen the lowest priced house cleaner. They want premium service for a commodity price and they wonder why they are unhappy with their results.

It is this third group of prospective Clients that this blog will address. Let go of your anger and resentment with your past “bargain basement” house cleaners. Don’t rehearse their incompetence over and over in your mind. These inept maids actually gave you what you paid for. Let go of the hurt and get over it…I guarantee that they are not thinking about you! Rather they are serving the next commodity minded maid service consumer who hasn’t really thought their position through yet.

It is true that rehearsing anger about your last maid(s) is hurting you more than the maid(s) you resent. These maids cannot hurt you unless you let them. Learn your lesson and move on unencumbered.

If you are ready for premium Customer service email You’ve Got MAIDS®, America’s Finest Maid Service™.

MAID SERVICE REMOTE CONTROL

We have remote controls for our DLP, LCD & Plasma TV’s. Our DVD & TiVo’s all came with a remote control. Ceiling fans, back yard hot tubs, and Hunter Douglas blinds all come with remote controls. Your Bose Wave Clock Radio even arrived with a remote control…imagine that…a remote control for your clock radio.

If there is something we don’t like on the T.V. we change the channel. Joel Osteen writes that “we need to learn how to mentally change channels when negative images of the past pop up in our minds unexpectedly…learn to change the channel. Don’t let your mind or your emotions drag you down into despair. Instead, dwell on the good things…”

Should you treat your current maid service like a channel you no longer wish to view? Should you surf the maid services? I guess it all depends on the severity of your viewing displeasure.

Unlike passively watching TV, you have directorial control over your maid service. If you don’t like something minor aspect of your current house cleaners’ performance, call or email the house cleaning companies supervisor. Try not to talk in general terms, instead address each concern specifically. Keep an upbeat perspective and you might be pleasantly surprised when you get to rewrite your maids’ future housecleaning script.

Imagine being able to have directorial control over ABC’s hit TV show…Lost. You could call ABC and suggest that on the next episode, Sawyer would start talking nicer to John Locke. You would be all powerful!

Tired of feeling “lost” when it comes to keeping your house clean? Call You’ve Got MAIDS…where the Client is always in the director’s chair.

A THANKSGIVING REFLECTION

Please click here to visit our new web site.

Visit us at http://www.youvegotmaids.com/

Check us out on: twitter, YOUTUBE, facebook

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¡Feliz Cumpleaños Marlen!

A few of Marlens friends surprised her with a Birthday Cake this morning at the Orlando office. Marlen, I wish Cynthia and I had been there to share it with you, but you are in our thoughts this morning.

Marlen is our Senior Team Supervisor in Central Florida. Marlen is an excellent trainer and a great person to work with. I have never known an associate that did not like working with her.

Marlen enjoys very high Customer satisfaction scores. Satisfaction doesn't do enough to describe Marlen...she WOW's her Clients! Everyday I feel thankful to be associated with a woman of Marlens integrity.

¡Feliz Cumpleaños Marlen!

What is a Maid Hour?

Our free phone estimates are based on maid hours. People call everyday for a free over the phone estimate with You've Got MAIDS. You can initiate one right now by clicking here.

Most homeowners are tired of enduring the inconvenience of giving the maid service salesman a tour of their home. These are the same people that enjoy the ease and functionality of companies like Geiko. Clients like that we utilize computer software to objectively produce an accurate estimate for how long it will take to clean their home. After we know the time it should take to clean the home, the price is easy to determine.

What is a Maid Hour you ask? Exactly that! Let's consider 8 maid hours:

it's 1 lonesome maid for 8 hours,

a terrific team of 2 for 4 hours each,

4 hard working professional maids for 2 hours each,

or 8 healthy housekeepers for 1 hour each. Our home cleaners aren't cheaper by the dozen.

12 maids would scrub and polish for 40 minutes.

CAN A 1-PERSON EXECUTIVE TEAM BE SUCCESSFUL?

Albert Einstein told us to not worry about becoming a man of success, but rather to develop into a man of value. So success could mean different things to different people. I guess the definition of success is relative.

Adding value is the ticket. As a long time pizza franchisee I found that when I focused most of my attention on Customer service, that profit followed. A good franchisor creates an operational road map to tested & proven tactics that increase its franchisees ability to find success. Follow these steps and your sales should increase. The process is constantly being analyzed in multiple markets…in this way a well structured franchise is a living, breathing entity that teaches its franchise partners how to add value and achieve victory. It is the same in the maid service industry.

It would be folly to focus all your energy on Customer service and then abandon the back room…therefore ultimately you need more than 1 person on your team to succeed. As your maid service matures your housekeeping services executive team should have 2 or more members, but less than a bus load. Peter Drucker teaches us that at its inception a company is often the lengthened shadow of one man. But it will not grow and survive unless the one-man top is converted into a team.

A 2 person executive team can be a great combination but ultimately it is unstable. Even the slightest disagreement can prove to be disastrous to the company. I knew two very capable franchisees that were a perfect team...for a time. They started out below me, and then passed me like I was standing still. Eventually one partner compared the other partner’s wife to Miss Piggy to one of their employees, it got back to the other partners wife, and the result was their business unraveled. It is amazing the amount of trouble that we cause by speaking foolish words. A 3rd member to that executive team would have allowed the company to function when the 2 wouldn’t talk to each other over the little Miss Piggy misunderstanding.

A diverse, disciplined executive team can accomplish more than an individual. Stephen Covey tells us that strength lies in differences, not in similarities. Flaws can be detected earlier. Complex projects can be carved up into achievable tasks. More mind to brainstorm solutions. Not every team member should be cut from the same mold.

Here are a few sources that would encourage you to build a management team:

• Ken Blanchard - None of us is as smart as all of us.
• Mark Twain – Synergy is the bonus that is achieved when things work together harmoniously.
• Ecclesiastes 4:12 - Though one person may be overpowered by another, two people can resist one opponent. A triple-braided rope is not easily broken.
• Henry Ford - If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.
• Vince Lombardi - Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.
• Sandra Day O'Connor - We don't accomplish anything in this world alone... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.
• H. Ross Perot - When building a team, I always search first for people who love to win. If I can't find any of those, I look for people who hate to lose.
• Andrew Carnegie - Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.
• Thomas Edison, when asked why he had a team of twenty-one assistants…If I could solve all the problems myself, I would.
• Lou Holtz, former Gamecocks football coach -All winning teams are goal-oriented. Teams like these win consistently because everyone connected with them concentrates on specific objectives. They go about their business with blinders on; nothing will distract them from achieving their aims.
• Teamwork is working together — even when apart.

Clinical House Cleaning Procrasintation

House Cleaning Procrastination.
The term itself comes from the Latin word procrastinatus: pro- (forward) and crastinus (of tomorrow) and youvegotmaiditus(finest maids service). Clinical House Cleaning Procrastination (HCP) is rampant across America. Chances are you know someone afflicted by this disorder...

I’ve procrastinated in writing this blog…do you ever procrastinate? Do you procrastinate at work? Does your work life follow you home at the end of the day? Do you procrastinate at home? Do all the things you are putting off at home affect you in the workplace? If your answers are yes, yes, yes, and yes, You’ve Got MAIDS can help. Everything we do in our individual lives creates ripples, and these ripples spread across your life. If you don’t believe me read Bobby Kennedy's altered speech.

Examine procrastination.

Cleaning procrastination is a type of avoidance behavior which is characterized by deferment of cleaning toilets, putting off scrubbing shower stalls, dallying when it comes to dusting and taking a rain check on mopping floors. Psychologists often cite procrastination as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any house cleaning task.

People afflicted with Cleaning procrastination may be burdened with stress, a sense of guilt, the loss of personal productivity, the creation of crisis and the chagrin of others for not fulfilling one's responsibilities or commitments. While it is normal for individuals to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes a problem when it impedes normal functioning. Chronic cleaning procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological or physiological disorder.

Homeowners suffering from HCP view their responsibilities negatively and avoid them by directing energy into other tasks. According to Wikipedia, it is common, for example, for procrastinating children to abandon schoolwork but not their social lives. Students often see projects as a whole rather than breaking them into smaller parts. This type of procrastination is a form of denial or cover-up; therefore, typically no help is being sought. Furthermore, they are also unable to defer gratification. The procrastinator avoids situations that would cause displeasure, indulging instead in more enjoyable activities.

In Freudian terms, such procrastinators refuse to renounce the pleasure principle, instead sacrificing the reality principle. They may not appear to be worried about work and deadlines, but this is simply an evasion.

Don’t let it get this far. Click here to initiate a complementary needs assessment with You’ve Got MAIDS. At the end of your first over the phone session you will know how long it should take to clean your home and a definitive price for weekly, or every other week service. Naturally first time services cost more because You’ve Got MAIDS will invest more time than normal in your home during the first visit. We would even vacuum Dr. Freud’s couch pictured below!

AIRING DIRTY LAUNDRY

This will be a case study in integrity, or rather lack thereof.

Company profile
You’ve Got MAIDS (YGM) is a residential maid service that offers cleaning services in the Charleston, South Carolina and Orlando, Florida markets. YGM specializes in sending trained, bonded, insured, professional housekeepers to our Clients homes to do the weekly or every other weekly maintenance cleaning. YGM also does a great deal of move in/move out cleans. YGM’s goal is to build integrity into everything we do…we even take pride in cleaning toilets…how many people can say that!

Business situation
A Client in Central Florida fired YGM after more than a year and a half of regular service. This is not the issue…some housekeeping consumers commoditize human services. They hire and fire maid service every day. When the owner of the original You’ve Got MAIDS evaluated this Clients needs, he took detailed notes. Turns out this Client had hired and fired a great deal of maid service (Molly Maids, Merry Maids, etc.) for things as seemingly trivial as leaving the bathroom mat askew. The owner took copious volumes of notes particular to this Client and was hired. This Client had an expiration date stamped on him, just like a gallon of milk in the supermarket, but it took 21 months for this Client/milk to turn sour. Better than we would have hoped.

Last Friday this Client called and barked at our receptionist that if the maids don’t finish cleaning by 1pm she was going to fire us. Imagine that. We tried to reach the maids but it is often difficult to connect with a maid team once they are on their route. We don’t allow them to take phone calls in Clients homes so we normally only have contact with the maids at the morning meeting, when they are lost, and then again at the end of the day.

YGM has a key to this Clients home and the maids got in and got right to work. After they had cleaned all the toilets, showers and sinks, maid beds, cleaned the kitchen, and dusted...all they had to do was vacuum and mop their way out. This is when the Client returned home and promptly threw the maids out without paying them. Imagine cleaning someone elses toilet and then not getting paid. This is exploitation plain and simple.

The maids called us, we called the Customer, the Customer refused to answer her phone. We spoke to her husband, told him the story, and asked him if his wife would kindly pay us. Long story short we have not been paid for this job.

Our company was once fired by a woman in Winter Park, Florida for sending a cross eyed maid into her home. Her rationale was how could the cross eyed maid see the dirt...outrageous but true. Imagine yourself saying those words out loud...I can't even think them without my head shaking back and forth. Naturally, even this woman paid for services already rendered.

You can fire your maid service for any reason under the sun, but do so before or after service is performed. Show some grace. Be a class act. Once someone has cleaned your toilets pay them. Anything else is scandalous.

Human situation
Most of our maid associates are single mothers. They don't work for us because they are bored of playing tennis. They work for You’ve Got MAIDS because we have a great compensation program that is tied into quality work and sales. Does the Client not see these women as human beings? Are they not worthy of respect and dignity? Outrageous.

Solution
The smartest thing is to move on, cut your losses, focus on the rest of your Clients. I get it. But part of the reason for these offices is to learn, so that these lessons can be taught to others as the You've Got MAIDS brand expands. In this way our office is more of a petri dish.

I don’t have a solution so I am asking for your help. Shoot your thoughts over on an email by clicking here. Please note if I have your permission to share your advice or if you would rather keep it private.

WORKING WITH DIFFICULT PEOPLE

Last night I enjoyed a conversation with friends where the topic of working with difficult people arose and that subject has been bouncing around my head ever since. The nice thing about owning a business is that you get select the people you wish to associate with. The lousy thing about being an owner is that you get to remove people who you no longer wish to associate with. In business, the sword always has two edges.

Terminating associates has to be one of the worst elements of running a business.

• First I look to blame myself. Could I have done a better job screening for the perfect employee? The truth is that the perfect employee doesn’t exist, but that does not mean we can give up the quest. No one is perfect, not even me. The closest anyone of us comes to perfection is when we fill out a job application, and that’s the root of the problem.
• Second I look for fault in our training process. Did we fail to extract better performance from this nonconforming associate? Was our regimented training program followed? Did we properly expose this associate to our way of doing business? Did the Team Supervisors do enough to help this new associate (“Newbie’s”) assimilate into our corporate culture? Did the other associates do their best to make this Newbie feel like a member of the crew or was the Newbie ostracized? Is calling someone a Newbie part of the problem?
• Lastly I look at the soon to be terminated Associate. Some associates will fail to meet expectations despite the screening, training, coaching, etc... I am convinced most people think they are doing a decent job…but some people suffer from delusions. Whatever is in the well will come out in the water. Perhaps the ground water of this person’s heart was exposed to toxic Chromium 6 for an extended period of time. If Erin Brockovich comes knocking on your trailer door, chances are, it’s too late.

No matter if the problem is you, your training process, or a flaw in your employee, when you find yourself in a situation where that associate will never be productive in your company…you need to do the right thing. Do the right thing for your Customers. Do the right thing for your team. Do the right thing for the associate (even if they are culturally misaligned). It is in everyone’s best interest not to procrastinate. Once the termination decision is maid, act swiftly.

Terminating an associate is like removing a Band-Aid. Grab hold, and let it rip. One shot is the most humane method. Don’t start giving the reasons, because this might lead to conversation, and next thing you know you are exchanging gifts with him at the company Christmas party. Better to start off with, I need to let you go, and this is why…

If you enjoy firing people, you might have a problem. After all it is true that hurting people, hurt people.

BACK TO BACK RECORD WEEKS!

Some days you are a like a statue in the park. This morning I was taking a victory lap around the office. Sales have been trending up. System wide we had back to back record weeks. The number of regular, recurring Clients had increased double digits in less than 3 weeks. Customer Feedback scores are at the highest level in the history of You’ve Got MAIDS. Due to our pay for performance program, this week’s pay checks are on average bigger than ever before. Everyone was winning…Clients, Maids, Management and the You’ve Got MAIDS brand! It was awesome, and for a brief moment of time we felt like a statue…bold and proud.

Then the other shoe dropped. We got fired. It wasn’t fair. The morning was going so well. Didn’t everyone read the same memo? You know the whole statue thing and all that goes along with it. I could hear Dickens mocking me over the intercom “…it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” NOT FAIR. Not fair.

Some days you are a statue, and some days you are the pigeon. I guess that is life. We have to take it all in stride. Win some, lose some. Learn from your mistakes. Celebrate your victories. All along keeping that chin up and vowing to come back stronger the next day.

We will be back Monday morning ready to build our brand, one Client at a time. If you live in Orlando, Florida or Charleston, South Carolina, and live in a really dirty house please initiate your free online quote by clicking here. You've Got MAIDS of Charleston has availability on Tuesday only, and You've Got MAIDS of Orlando can add your home on Monday and Thursday. Please email us over the weekend and we can get you on the schedule.

LEO & ROBIN WOODS OF OVIEDO, FL

developing...

MAID SERVICE REVIEW - WINTER PARK, FLORIDA

Ken Blanchard wrote that "Feedback is the breakfast of champions" and at You've Got MAIDS we digest feedback for breakfast, lunch and dinner! We go the extra mile to solicit our Clients feedback on their perception of our housekeeping services. Here's two great reviews from a very satisfied Client in Winter Park, Florida.

--------------------------------
Date: 9/12/2007
Customer: JEANIE
Note: Hi Frank and Cynthia,
I just wanted to let you know that the house cleaners who cleaned my house last Wednesday did a GREAT JOB! I thought I should pass that along because I thought about it twice :)
Thank you - Jeanie
--------------------------------
Date: 10/10/2007
Customer: JEANIE
Note: Hi Frank and Cynthia,
Your house cleaners are coming to my place this Wednesday, the later the better. When they were hear a few weeks ago your team supervisor won over my mother like I have never heard. I was out of town but my mother suggested I ask for her if she is available.
Hope all is well, Jeanie
--------------------------------

Thank you for the encouraging words Jeanie! Your maids always enjoy cleaning your home, but these past two feedbacks read aloud at our morning meetings have really energized our team!!!

Jeanie and her husband Scott are Landscape Architects. “Landscape architecture is the art of creating visually interesting and meaningful designs that provide for the client’s health, safety and well being, while preserving the environment. ”

Calling Scott a“Landscape Architects” is like calling Andrew Wyeth just an “aritist”. It is factually correct, but it does not reflect their dedication to their craft. If you are considering a facelift for your home, or are designing a new castle…please consider Redmon Design Company, PA. But don’t take my word for it. Let their work speak for itself…click here , here, and here. Don’t forget about clicking here.

If you require maid service and you live in Winter Park, Baldwin Park, Maitland, Longwood, or Orlando call (407) 737-7773 for a free phone estimate or initiate your free online quote by clicking here. Our office is centrally located at Semoran & the 408 so we can be out to your home in minutes. Weekly Service Plans starting at as low $89.98 a week.

Would Bobby Kennedy endorse You’ve Got MAIDS?

My father was a Democrat, my mother Republican, but we did not live in a house divided. I was just a puppy on June 6, 1968 when a 24-year-old Palestinian, Sirhan Sirhan, snuffed out the Democratic Presidential front runner. Senator Robert Kennedy's life was taken with a .22 caliber revolver at close range in Los Angeles. Bobby Kennedy was 42 years old. What a tragedy. Death is so final.

My favorite Bobby Kennedy speech is "Ripples of Hope". It is truly inspirational. I memorized it at 12. Last night I was wondering what would have happened to that speech if Bobby Kennedy had decided to go into house cleaning instead of politics. It might have turned out like this:

Ripple of Cleanliness

"Few will have the greatness to live in a perfectly clean home; but each of us can work to change a small portion of our dwelling, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this domicile ... It is from numberless diverse acts of scrubbing and cleaning toilets that our habitats history is thus shaped. Each time a maid stands up for clean baseboards, or acts to improve the sanitary condition of her bathroom, or strikes out against dog hair and cat dander with a hepa filtered vacuum, she sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest halls of dust and grime."

W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM RECOMMENDS YOU’VE GOT MAIDS

"I made up my mind long ago that life was too short to do anything for myself that I could pay others to do for me.” Somerset Maugham

British novelist, playwright, & short-story writer, Somerset Maugham would surely recommend You’ve Got MAIDS for all your maid service, housekeeping, & house cleaning needs if he hadn’t passed from this world in 1965. Somerset Maugham believed in delegating mindless chores to others, so he could focus on what was important to him. Somerset Maugham shares this delegating mindset with the vast majority of our Clients.

Now some people get a charge out of cleaning. These people typically clean their own homes, because no one else can really measure up. They might be compulsive, borderline OCD, or perhaps what Dr. Sigmund Freud would refer to as anal retentive.

Only the most unfortunate professional maid services have borderline OCD, anal retentive customers. These special people give anuses a stinky name. Clients like this will drive even the best maid service owners into early retirement…

You’ve Got MAIDS average Client is a duel income family who appreciates that weekends are meant for recharging their batteries. They partner with their maid service provider because they know they have bigger fish to fry. They appreciate the value of a clean and sanitary home front. When they call me for their free over the phone estimate they already know what they want.

Do you live in either the Orlando, FL or Charleston, SC markets? If so you can initiate a free over the phone evaluation of your home cleaning needs by clicking here. Life is too short to clean for yourself when you could hire You’ve Got MAIDS to do it for you.

Inside Donatos

This post is one of a series that discusses to Donatos Pizza. - Ed.

After that last blog on failing Donatos Pizza shops lets visit where it all started, Columbus, OHIO. Buckeye territory where Donatos can do no wrong.

Here we are after touring the first Donato's Pizza shop! I had a tie when the day began but Jim Grote informed me that ties were not part of the Donatos culture. I felt right at home.

Cynthia and I hamming it up with Donatos VP of Franchising, Tom Stratton. My wife and I flew up from Charleston, SC to meet with Jim & Jane Grote, ready to invest our life savings in their Donatos Brand. We were really looking forward to eating at a Donatos Pizzeria, but Tom Stratton took us to a downtown restaurant for lunch. On the way home we grabbed a Donatos Pizza near the airport.

These are the proofing racks Donatos used

to get their dough perfect before saucing.

Here is Donatos signature product...

their thin crust, or original crust.

This is one of Jim Grotes innovations.

It meters the perfect amount of sauce.

Once the sauce is on the shell...you don't use a spoodle like they do at Domino's, Pizza Hut, & Papa Johns. You pick it up and do this shaking, twisting motion to spread the sauce evenly over the entire crust.

Donatos stuck me in the Pataskala for most of my training. It was a high volume restaurant, far from the seedy sections of Columbus. This particular restaurant had so much potential,

but it was being run largely by teenagers.

Here is a makeline stocked to rock.

One side of the make table for saucing and cheesing.

The other side for toppings.

A perfect pepperoni pizza, covered from

edge to edge with over 100 pepperonis!

The cut table at the end of the oven. This is the final quality check point. At Donatos they cut there slices in squares.

Drivers waiting for their next delivery.

DONATOS PIZZA CLOSING UNITS IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA

This post is one of a series that discusses to Donatos Pizza. - Ed.

Three years ago we came very close to making a costly mistake. I had just finished my franchise training with Donatos Pizza. Our goal was to open in Charleston, SC, but Donatos had other plans for my family. They wanted me to sail in and start turning around sales in Philadelphia or Orlando, one restaurant at a time. We like palm trees so our choice was clear.

At that point in my career, my goal was to open a new market and build it out to 10 or 12 units, be in control of the marketing cooperative, and not to resurrect failed restaurants. This is what attracted me to Donatos…the entire country was their canvas and so far the only areas painted on was Columbus, Ohio, & a few drops of paint in Pennsylvania and Florida.

To validate the viability of their brand outside of Ohio, Donatos had opened ten restaurants in Philly and ten restaurants in Orlando while a subsidiary of McDonald's. Both markets opened big, but an interesting phenomena occurred at all twenty locations. After 18 months average weekly unit sales would stall, and then begin a spiraling death dive into the realms of unprofitability. It was as if they were programmed to do this. Luckily Donatos kicks butt in Columbus, Ohio and they could afford to place these losses as sacrifices on the altar of national brand building.

Donatos really needed to celebrate a success outside of Columbus, Ohio, but it seems no other market has ever come close to replicating the phenomenal success enjoyed in the 25 mile radius of Ohio State University. Even Cincinnati and Cleveland don’t achieve the high sales levels enjoyed in Columbus. It is interesting that although Domino's Pizza originated in Ann Arbor (Ypsilanti), Michigan, its highest volume markets don't include Ann Arbor. The same is true of Papa Johns from Jeffersonville, Indiana, Pizza Hut from Wichita, Kansas, and Little Caesers from Garden City, Michigan. This begs the question, is Donatos just a great regional chain? Time will tell.

Not long after I walked away from a deal that got uglier and uglier, Donatos pulled the plug on Philly, closing all ten units. They built a new concept restaurant in Orlando, but recently closed it along with three other existing locations in Orlando. Now they have seven locations left in Orlando. My bet is that they hang onto Orlando and continue to pour resources into this market in order to validate their brands viability to prospective franchisees. If they give up on Orlando, they will be giving up on franchising their brand.

If you are ever near a Donatos in Orlando, Florida be sure to order the Mariachi Chicken pizza. It is a mouth watering combination of chicken breast, Mariachi spice, Cheddar, aged Provolone, Roma tomatoes, & Jalapenos...it's delicious! Be sure to use the sour cream they serve it with.

Here are some pictures of Donatos Pizzerias in Orlando, FL, many of which are now closed.