HAPPILY EVER AFTER!

Hiring a service providing company is supposed to make your life easier, not more difficult.

The relationship between client and server should be a "win-win" alliance, and here are some tips for making it so.

Finding good help is a Major Challenge.

• Whether you're managing a business or simply managing your household; you know how true that old cliché still is today. And when you do find good help, there is an even greater challenges in keep them.
• When it comes to hiring anyone in the service business - be it a plumber, electrician, or whatever, it's amazing how hard it sometimes is to reach someone. Have you noticed how long it takes for some service providers to get back to you when you leave a message - if they ever bother calling you back at all?
• Use the responsiveness to your initial inquiry as a gauge of what to expect in the future. Any service provider, be it an individual or a company, should get back to you within a reasonable time. The promptness - or lack thereof - should serve as a signal with respect to the kind of reliability you might expect should you decide to hire this individual or company.
• Good help is hard to find. It's even more difficult when recruiting help is not your full time job, as it is with professional cleaning companies. Furthermore, background checks and criminal history investigations are more difficult for private individuals to undertake than for companies who have developed and utilize a systematic screening process in connection with their hiring practices.
• Hiring a reliable service company (instead of trying to find an individual service provider), which in turn bears the burden of finding, training and managing its help, can relieve you of that ordeal. Another side benefit in choosing a company over an individual service provider is that a reliable company will take care of its personnel's social security taxes and accept responsibility for workers' compensation claims - resulting in less hassle and added peace of mind for you and your homeowners insurance.

 Define the Job.

• When interviewing a potential customer, it's important that both you and your labor force clearly agree on what will be included for the quoted fee. Generally, your service provider is not responsible for "daily" clutter chores, like picking up after the kids, washing dishes or servicing Fluffy's litter box. The general description of the job is "house service", and you need to determine up front exactly what this description includes on each visit.
• It will be far easier for both you and your service provider when the expectations are spelled out and mutually understood right from the start

Be prepared to pay a Fair Market Price.

•   You work hard for your money, and you deserve to get the most for whatever you choose to spend it on. However, the old adage that says "any man can make something cheaper and sell it for less, and he who considers price only is this man's lawful prey" is certainly true when it comes to getting good value from your house cleaning service.
• There are many factors that go into calculating a fair price for servicing your home, both initially, as well as on an ongoing weekly or biweekly basis. The major cost to a service company is labor, the cost of acquiring, training, supervising and paying a qualified and professional work force. You can't attract or keep quality people with minimum wage pay - not in the service industry, or any other type of business. Yet, labor is only one of the costs that service rates must cover.
• In addition to payroll costs, your service company has other overhead expenses: transportation to and from your home or office, payroll taxes, including; FICA, FUCA and state unemployment taxes, supplies and equipment, marketing expenses, office and administrative costs, workers compensation, bonding and general insurance costs - just to name a few. It is not unusual for it to cost your service company $40 or $50 just to get a team to your home or office - before they even start servicing it!
• On top of all that, the company is entitled to expect a small profit of $5 or $10 per service visit, an amount you surely shouldn't begrudge them.
• The really important factor relative to your service fee is that you get good value for your money - and that should be more than just a good service job.

What determines "Good Value"?

•   Obviously, since you're paying for "house service", you expect a job well done from your service provider. Your expectations relative to what was agreed upon at the beginning of your relationship with your house service company should be fulfilled. But the overall value is determined by more than just a clean home or office on every visit.
• If you hire someone who agrees to clean for you every Wednesday, but can't be depended upon to show up faithfully on the agreed-upon day, it really doesn't matter how good a job that person or company performs. It does not make your life easier when you've got company coming and you arrive home from work just to find out that your service provider failed to show up that day!
• Knowing that the folks to whom you entrust your home and valuables have been screened, bonded, professionally trained and supervised can give you greater peace of mind - certainly a major element in making your life easier. A reliable service company would never assign anyone to services your home or office to which they wouldn't entrust their own.
• Accidents can and do happen, and when they do, "good intentions" may not cut it. Many service providers do not carry workers' compensation or general liability insurance. What happens if a cleaner slips and falls on a wet floor or while cleaning a bathtub? What happens if your service provider accidentally breaks a valuable family heirloom? Knowing that your service company is responsible enough to carry the proper insurance and legally required workers' compensation coverage is important to your peace of mind.

Effective Communication makes everyone's Life easier.

• A major cause of misunderstandings that lead to dissatisfaction in the relationship between client and service provider is a lack of communication. Communication is a two-way street, and since you may not be home on most occasions when your service team visits, "written" communication is important. Certainly, leaving a note to express a concern or register a complaint is important. But it's equally important that you periodically communicate your written appreciation for good service. House cleaners respond well to compliments just like anyone else. In fact, the old saying is that "honey attracts more flies than vinegar" is indeed true.
• People like to be recognized, and written compliments can go a long way in motivating the folks responsible for looking after your house or office chores. Use written notes to convey special requests or to address specific concerns. But also look for opportunities to inspire your service people with positive comments as well. You might be surprised how far this gesture will go in motivating your service team to go that extra mile.
• When your service team leaves you a note, it also shows that they care about you and your home or office.

  Special Requests are always welcome.

• Your service team is responsible for servicing several homes and offices each working day. While they will be happy to accommodate special requests you may have from time to time (such as clean the oven, clean inside the refrigerator, and or washing windows, for example), it will be easier for them to accommodate your wishes if you provide them with advance notice, for example a 48 hour window to aloud for planning and preparation.
• Rather than leaving a note asking them to do an extra assignment today, call the office in advance or leave a note asking them to do the task on their next regular service visit. In this way, your team can plan their day's service schedule ahead of time. As you can appreciate, if two or three clients surprised them with extra duties on their scheduled day, they may have to skip someone else's regular visit if they tried to fit in that extra work.
• Keep in mind that you will normally be expected to pay a little extra for work that is not normally included. That is only fair, after all.

  Your project scheduled.

• Most service providers work five days a week, Monday through Friday. And some even work the week-end. That means that they need to clean approximately 20% of their clients each day. Obviously, not everyone can be cleaned on Friday. Of course, not everyone wants to be - and for good reason. Monday, for example, is an excellent day to schedule your service because it means the house gets spiffed up after the weekend and you get to come home to a cleaner home all week long. Then again, your cleaner can't clean everyone on Monday, either. So being flexible with your services provider will go a long way.
• A factor that may determine your specific service day is the weekday on which a service team is already in your area. If your service providing company are already servicing several homes or offices in your neighborhood on Wednesday, then that is likely to be your assigned service day. It is not economically feasible to send a team several miles out of their way when they're working in another part of the city on Tuesday, for example, if there is a team in your neighborhood on Wednesday.
• It's also important to understand that while your service provider maybe able to tell you whether they will be at your home or office in the morning or afternoon on your scheduled day, it is virtually impossible to set a specific time of arrival. They can't drop what they're doing before they're finished at the Brown's office building in order to get to the Jones' house by 8:00am, for example. What is important is that if they promise to come on Thursday, then you have every reason to expect them to show up sometime on Thursday - and that is important.

By cancelling an appointment, it can be frustrating.

• Just as it might make your life miserable if your service provider did not show up without notice for a scheduled visit, it is equally frustrating for your team to arrive only to find that you "forgot to call and cancel" this visit. For this reason, your service company may have a policy of charging clients who fail to provide advance notice in canceling a service visit. Conversely, if your team fails to show as scheduled, you may have an equal right to some type of recompense - like a reduction on the price of their next visit, for example. Of course, emergencies can arise which may make it impossible for one party or the other to keep a scheduled appointment. Since those types of emergencies are rare, empathy on the part of the offended party should be the order of the day. It would be a real shame to ruin an otherwise great relationship between you and your service provider as a result of circumstances beyond anyone's control.
• Ask your service company about their "no-show" policy.

 Security issues are very important.

• Since most clients are not home when their service providers visit, there must be some way for the team to gain entry into the house. The majority of clients provide their service providers with a house or office key - which a reliable company will treat with the utmost security. Besides management, only the team leader / supervisor should have access to clients' keys or codes. Leaving a key under the front doormat, in a mailbox, or some other location is not a safe alternative.
• If you're not comfortable giving your service provider their own key, and there's a chance you won't be home when they arrive, you need to have some agreeable and viable alternative for allowing them entry into your home. Being "locked out" for a scheduled service visit is a very good reason for the company to insist on charging a missed-appointment fee.
• Professional service companies pre-screen prospective employees prior to sending them out into clients' homes or office buildings. A background check that discloses impeccable honesty and integrity is critical to the screening process. The standards demanded of applicants and employees of your service company may indeed by higher than those required by firms employing people in the security field.
• One lesson we learned from The Bible is that even "perfect" humans can give way to overwhelming temptation. If Adam and Eve would chance eternal damnation over an apple, it stands to reason that we should not tempt lesser mortals with a "karat"! Never leave jewelry or cash where it can be easily accessed by anyone.

 Accidents do happen, so what to do to stop them.

• Accidents can happen, even with the most careful of service teams. Most often they occur because the homeowner fails to notify their service providers about "booby traps" that may be present: Like the lamp shade that collapses if you merely look at it the wrong way - the picture that's hanging by a thread which falls off the wall the minute the dusting person touches it. Be sure to advise your service company about any such potential perils that may be present in your home.
• Many client and service provider relationships are terminated when something in the home or office has been broken and the "good intentions" of the service provider aren't enough to pay for the damages. It's important that your service provider be adequately insured, including a provision called "care, custody and control" (which all insurance policies specifically exclude, and which must be written into the policy as an addendum). Insurance is a substantial expense for those responsible service providers that carry it, but it's worth the peace of mind to you to pay a little more for a service that is properly insured.
• Damage to household objects is one thing, but it can be far more serious (and costly) if someone is injured on the job. Your service team could slip and fall on a wet floor or while service a bathtub, and that's why it's also important that your service company cover its employees with required workers' compensation insurance. You might be surprised - indeed, shocked - by the increased premium in your homeowners' policy if someone is injured on your property and a claim is made against your insurance company for bodily injury and/or medical expenses.
• A major cause of injury to service teams occurs during winter months when they attempt to enter a client's home with ice-covered walkways or steps. Show common courtesy to your service team by making sure that outside steps and entryways are safe to walk on and that a path is always shoveled through the snow on your established service day.
• Or if you don't have time or instead do this courtesy for your service company, just pick up the phone and call your service provider; they may be handling this type of service already for other homes or businesses in your area.

Pets are mans best friends but your service provider is too.

• Family pets can pose a problem for the service provider who doesn't know whether the big, barking dog is excited friendly - or excited angry. Should ‘Fluffy', the cat be let in or let out by the team? If ‘Fido', has been locked in a room, you don't want the work force to drop dead of a heart attack when they open the door, only to be greeted by a lunging Rottweiler!
• If possible, leave your pets outside on your service day. It's a lot easier to clean the house without the cat chasing the mop or having the dog freak out when the vacuum cleaner is turned on. If pets will be in the home when your service providers arrive, be sure that they have been warned ahead of time - like leaving a note, "don't let the cat out when you come," or "don't worry about Rex's barking."

Tipping is always; "Nice".

• For those working in the service industry, be it as a waiter, taxi driver, bellman, hair dresser, manicurist, parking attendant or a cleaning service provider, tips are always appreciated. It is appropriate to tip your service providers and or work force team when deserved. While 15% to 18% is considered the norm for good service in most industries, 10% of the service fee is generally deemed appropriate for service providers. However, the decision as to whether to tip or not, and how much to leave is entirely a personal matter; it is not a mandatory obligation. And when determining who get a tip can be extremely hard because it not just the field workers that's been working on your project but also the office personnel. So just remember that the corporation doesn't except tips, but all laborers working with your project would appreciate one.
• Should you choose to leave a gesture of appreciation for your service crew, a gift of Cash rather than a Check is the preferred practice by most service companies. Yet, if the corporation was to get a check written out for tips, the government will have to be paid by the service provided. Tips are taxable.