In the year since the CDC declared COVID-19 a pandemic, the world of professional house cleaners has been turned on it’s head in countless ways, from new PPE requirements, to supply shortages, to exhausting disinfection regiments, to even the most mundane challenges of trying to clean with all their clients suddenly underfoot! It’s been a jungle out there and these foot soldiers in the war against dirt and contagion deserve our endless gratitude and admiration for rolling with it all. While the distribution of vaccines has put the hope of returning back to normal tantalizingly in sight, the reality is that professional house cleaners will need to continue to operate under stringent standards for some time in order to safely serve their most vulnerable clients until this virus is truly under control. In the interim, we want to share with our professional cleaning customers the 4 C’s of Succeeding as a COVID-19 Cleaner from industry expert Melissa Homer, Chief Cleaning Officer of MaidPro, in hopes that they will further inspire your creativity and resilience in these challenging times:
COVID Cleaning Tips: Learn the 4 Cs of Succeeding as a COVID-19 Cleaner
1. Celebrate Your Safety
The key to maintaining consumer confidence during this timeframe is addressing the germ covered elephant in the room head on. Over communicate regularly through your emails, print out leave-behinds, and more the procedures you’ve put in place to keep your clients safe. Listing your masking and social distancing policies, how you’re disinfecting supplies between cleans, customer health screenings, and more will help keep current clients loyal and embolden lost clients to return.
2. Choreograph Your Cleaning Dance Routine
When lots of people need to share a confined space, like dancers on a stage, knowing the moves keeps everyone from stepping on each other’s toes. Plan a flight path for yourself throughout the home and share that room order with your client, so they can plan ahead to move out of your way. Announce your progress as you move from area to area of the home, further solidifying the routine, so your clients learn to partner dance with you. Stick to the same routine each clean, so your clients can learn the dance and anticipate your moves at future visits.
3. Control Cross Contamination
Preventing the spread of germs from home to home has always been the sworn duty of professional house cleaners, but COVID-19 has been an amazing opportunity to double-down on the critical responsibility. Simple steps like packing separate sets of freshly laundered supplies for each home, color coding your microfiber towels by room type to keep bathroom germs from spreading around the home, and disinfecting vacuum equipment attachments between cleans and stop the spread of so many illness long after the pandemic is behind us.
4. Cultivate Connection from a Distance
Maintaining social distancing and masking while cleaning can create emotional distancing between cleaner and client as well, impacting everything from poor service complaints to tips! To bridge the divide, increase your focus of adding special touches and moments of beauty to your cleans, showing your clients just how much you still care about their happiness, not just their cleanliness. Simple moments like pretty folded paper towels or setting up their children’s toys creatively at the end of their bed can quickly remind your client how special you still are despite the distance
Melissa Homer is a professional cleaning expert with over 20 years experience in the commercial and residential cleaning industry. She is a highly trained cleaning professional, business consultant, and educator that specializes in cleaning product testing and research, premium surface care, cleaning safety, cleaning procedure efficiency, training documentation, and cleaning damage repair. Melissa has worked for some of the biggest names in the professional residential cleaning industry, including P&G Professional and MaidPro. She has been interviewed and quoted in numerous leading publications such as Martha Stewart Living, Real Simple, Consumer Reports, Better Homes & Gardens, U.S. News & World Report, and The Washington Post.