2 Rewards and a Consequence

It's been a while since I shared a business update from Carfagno Commercial Cleaning also known as the C3 Experience! This podcast started exactly 3 years ago as the Solo Cleaning School because I was starting my second solo cleaning company. If you are unfamiliar with my story, please go back to the "Introduction to the Solo Cleaning School". I encourage you to continue listening from the introduction as this podcast is a "how did Ken do it" course for free. The other major episode to check out is "A New Freedom Vision", which is where I declared that I was done solo cleaning and that we were going to take a family trip to Florida for a month. I started sharing monthly updates with Coach Josh with our family and business progress on transitioning from solo to a team with systems. It was very difficult, but "The Fight Was Worth it"! There, I've given you a 3-year C3 update referencing 3 popular episodes. 

Here's the C3 update. I don't clean houses anymore. We do still have 2 residential accounts, but I've delegated them to my son for extra money. We currently service 18 commercial locations and just hired our 5th team member. We are so thankful for these amazing people. They have found a part-time job that pays them well and provides them with the flexibility they desired. Each of our team members has a goal and we are actively working together to help them win and achieve. One of our team members was living in a toxic situation with a duplex neighbor. They wanted desperately to get out. The part-time money from this cleaning job has been a huge blessing in helping them make an offer on a new house that has no neighbors. Another team member saved up her part-time cleaning money to take a vacation to Myrtle Beach to see her sister for the first time in a while. I love these stories and it really motivates me to continue finding more amazing team members and customers. We added 2 new locations in June, 2 new locations in July, and lost 2 locations in August. Our revenue for commercial cleaning is currently $12,000 per month, plus we have $777 per month of residential. C3 is currently at $153k in annual revenue. We have 15 of 18 locations delegated to the C3 Team. I personally clean 2 vet hospitals every weekend with my kids.

This all sounds great, right? Yes, it does. We're very thankful. However, I pulled some numbers from the end of the summer when I was traveling a lot. We may have hit a few trailing goals. We did not set or hit any leading goals. This is a dangerous sign and told me that we were running an unhealthy business. What do I mean by that? Coach Josh continually tells me that we must be always rowing with both paddles in the water. The business needs to be adding new team members and new locations on a regular basis. People will quit, even ones achieving goals. This happened in July when we had to replace a team member. Customers will fire you. This happened in August when we lost 2 in the same month. We can never rest on our laurels. I'm going to share with you Smart Cleaning School how poorly our leading indicators look for future growth. First, I'll share them. Then I'll teach you what all this means.

End of Summer Baseline: Leading Indicators

• 2 proposals sent/month
• 2-5 connections to Project 100/month
• 1 C3 candidate interview/month
• 0 social media posts/month
• 0 newsletters sent/month to 100 subscribers
• Incomplete C3xNow.com website and 0 new blogs

​
I'm not telling anyone about C3. I'm not prospecting anyone. I'm barely hiring anyone. I'm just enjoying the summer and cruising. This will not get our family to Florida in February 2023. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that?! We have our second Freedom Tour along the Gulf Coast of Florida in February. That's exciting. We did it last year, so this year will be a cinch. That's not what Coach Josh is telling me. "Ken, you have double the revenue this time. First of all, you'll need a manager or two to ensure you have coverage all month. Second, you put your 2022 trip together with duct tape and nails. It held, but it was temporary. Four of the five cleaners are no longer with you. Third, you are still paying off the debt from that $17,000 trip." Josh, you're so mean. Actually, he's telling the truth like any good coach should. Side note, the trip only cost that much because we have $3,000 in car issues along the way and we did everything in 30 days! It was SO worth it.
Josh went on to teach me a huge goals lesson. "There is a difference between leading and trailing goals. Leading goals are the actions that create the results called trailing goals. You cannot control the trailing goals. You can only set them, do your best to assume and forecast the leading goals that will create them, then actually be disciplined to do the leading goals." Did you get all of that? Josh went on. "Once you set your leading and trailing goals, set 2 rewards and 1 consequence around them." Now I was asking the same thing you are right now. What are you talking about Josh?! "Ken, we need to sweeten the pot. You need a positive motivation and a negative motivation to hit these goals. When you hit all of your leading goals, you get a reward. What is that reward that pumps you and your wife up? When you hit your trailing goals, you get a larger reward. What is that? If you don't hit your leading goals, you must pay a consequence." I totally was onboard. I said. "It's like Florida last year. I had the reward of taking my family to Florida for a month. I promised them and paid for the house. My consequence was tucking my tail between my legs and telling my family we couldn't go. I worked like a rented mule all hours of the day and night to accomplish this goal and we did it!"

Now Josh and I were on the same page. I completely understood the challenge my coach was giving me. Teresa was excited and it spurred us to set 3 sets of goals together. I set goals over my health, C3, and the Smart Cleaning School. Teresa set goals around her health, her education, and our homeschool. We separated these goals into actions and results and put them into the leading and trailing categories. We used some historical info from the business to make solid assumptions of what leading actions would produce trailing results. This produced a list of 15 actions for me and about 12 for Teresa. From there, I got super nerdy and was able to get these actions into a structured daily block calendar. I need structure to tell me what to do, otherwise I won't do it. Teresa and I also set our rewards and consequences. Obviously, the big reward is going or not going to our paid-for rental house in Florida. We broke up our goals into two 90-day SMART goals ending on October 31, 2022 and January 31, 2023. We added smaller rewards like eating out and taking an overnight to our favorite bed & breakfast if we both accomplish our leading goals. We set the consequences as not  eating out at all and paying for someone else to go to our favorite bed & breakfast! Ouch!
It's time to lay out the first set of leading and trailing goals for C3. I'm ready to share them and be accountable to you!

10/31/22 90-Day Smart Goal
Leading Goals - Connect with 25 Project 100 prospects/week, invest 30 minutes/day running the C3 hiring process, create 2 social media posts/week, and create 2 blogs/month for the C3xNow.com site and the C3x Newsletter
Trailing Goals - Add 4 locations (to 22), add $2,500/month revenue, add 2 Team Members (to 6), add 25 subscribers (to 125), submit 4-6 proposals/mo, and 4 candidate interviews/month.
1/31/23 90-Day Smart Goal
Leading Goals - Connect with 25 Project 100 prospects/week, invest 30 minutes/day running the C3 hiring process, create 2 social media posts/week, and create 2 blogs/month for the C3xNow.com site and the C3x Newsletter
Trailing Goals - Add 4 locations (to 26), add $2,500/month revenue (up to $17,500/month), add 2 Team Members (to 8), add 1 Assistant Team Leader (ATL) on staff and 1 back-up ATL, add 25 subscribers (to 150), submit 4-6 proposals/mo, and 4 candidate interviews/month.
It's time for Ken to get his butt into high gear! I'll share updates as we strive forward to the prize. Thanks so much for listening!

Would you like to set goals with me in your cleaning company and be held accountable to completing them? This is called the 1% Club. That's what the Smart Cleaning Tribe does week in and week out! We are a family of cleaning company owners who connect every week via Zoom to brainstorm, solve problems, set goals, hold each other accountable, and support each other.