Consistency Vs. First Impression

Talking about putting the first foot in a cleaning job and making the first impression as we call it. Many believes that making the first impression lasts, when walking into a cleaning job for the first time, and putting a 110% effort will give the client a confidence that the cleaning company (or operator) are trust worthy.

Some cleaning companies or operators, walk into a cleaning job, and in a "trying to impress the new client effort" they go out the of the job specs, and give the client a "misleading" idea of what they going to get from the cleaners on a regular basis.

Don't misunderstand me, I think impressing the client at a new job, is successful, to START new business relationship that must be improved by keeping the standards and sticking to the job specs been agreed upon by the 2 parties.

The "impression" method can lead the relation with the client into a dead end. So what can go wrong:

·         Client request that the extra duties to be part of the regular cleaning specs, and even if you argue that the duties were performed as part of "company introduction", the crack in the relationship with the client started already. We can go ahead and talk of the possible outcomes of this scenario, but it will take this article out of proportion, so let's stick to the basics.

·         Lowering the performance back to the specs might cause the company to be issued with a warning, keeping in mind, that big portion of cleaning industry jobs, are a verbal instructions or very broad written instruction.

·         Lets agree on one point, is that the clients have enough time to see what the cleaners do or don't more than the cleaners themselves. Imagine having a desk near the corner of the room, and sitting on that desk for 8 hours, and let me ask here "how many times your eyes will look at the corner next to you within the 8 hours?" I think we all know the answer.

In 90% of the cases, I've been taken by a new client for brief tour, they were to show me one if not more corners that been neglect by the previous cleaning company/operator.

Some of you will ask me then what, shall we do, or don't?

And I say to my experience, YES but it has to be CLEARLY explained to the client BEFORE commencing the job that "the company will conduct a thorough clean up job" as an introduction to the company and that the client will not be charged for it. At all cases our company  got recognition and appreciation for the good start of a business relationship.

I hope this article will be useful for you at some stage. Am open for reviews and comments.

Thank you all.