Two Generals

In a recent solo cleaning business update, "Slow Down to Speed Up ", I invested 45 minutes in the driveway talking to potential clients. I answered all of their questions and even walked one through a series of questions to use to interview other cleaning services. Her name is Meghann. She hired me for an initial cleaning last week and it went splendid. Meghann was very impressed and wanted to get quotes for a recurring service either biweekly or monthly. I provided those prices within a day. By the end of last week, we agreed on a monthly recurring service for $160. Yay! It pays to slow down. I invested 30 minutes on the phone and it turned into $2,200 in revenue over the first 12 months!

I've shared the story of Tom and recycled computer parts for my son and that he hired me for biweekly office cleaning. This week, Tom decided to shut down his office again through COVID and drop cleaning to monthly. No big deal. I'm flexible and my proposal has this exact line in it. Tom was grateful.

"Contracts: Carfagno Cleaning, Inc DOES NOT require contracts. Our word is our bond.  Keep us as long as you're happy! But please, let us know if you ever feel something was  missed. A contract-free service allows you to switch between cleaning options as needed."

Here are some marketing-related activities from last week. My wife noticed that a local restaurant was looking for cleaning and forwarded the message to me. I immediately recognized it as Sammy's Bullfrog Cafe in Harleysville, a place where I've already submitted a proposal for biweekly cleaning. I thought this would be a good time to reach back out to the owners and say hi. It was no surprise that they asked me to send a requote and if I cleaned kitchens. I replied no to the restaurant kitchens, but resent my original proposal. I got a call from Heather for a biweekly cleaning, thanks to a referral from my realtor BIB group friend Mary Ann Alig. I took my time with Heather and gave her a bunch of information to share with her husband. Lastly, I completed the proposals for the owner of a local cafe, Pam, and the Skippack Animal Hospital! I was really proud of myself as I took my house and office cleaning proposal templates to the next level.

Now, it's time to get to the title of this episode. Susan Sloan is a fellow member of my MCBA networking group. She owns Real Health Quotes and recently partnered with her husband Tom on video interviews with local businesses to serve her clients. It's quite ingenious as she can bring experts from various industries to add value to her clients and it brings word-of-mouth power to the experts like myself. We have been trying to schedule this interview since February and finally got it done! Susan prepped me well for two short pieces, where Tom had varying camera angles. The first interview was geared to equip workers and small business owners to go back to work safely with respect to cleanliness. The second interview geared toward moms at home dealing with homeschooling and how to get the kids involved in the cleaning of the house. They were a lot of fun to create. 

Once we wrapped up, I got talking with Tom and he told me two stories related to presentation cleaning that I had to get into this podcast. Tom shared it like this... "I used to be a manager with a perfectionist district manager. He would show up and always find something dirty that needed to be cleaned. No matter how good my staff cleaned prior to his visit, he would not rest until he found something. Prior to one visit, we decided to try something. We left a messy desk on purpose, full of fuzzballs to attract his attention while barely cleaning anything else in the office. It worked! He found the messy desk and sure let us know about it, but said absolutely nothing about the rest. We got out of a ton of cleaning because he made it his business to find one thing to point out. Once he found it, he didn't care about anything else." I told Tom how much this lined up with my philosophy on Presentation Cleaning and optimizing. When you focus people on the areas they most care about and do amazing, they don't tend to care as much in other places.

Tom shared a second story. "During World War II, there was a young private who idolized General MacArthur and why wouldn't he?! MacArthur was later given the rank of a 5-star general in the US Army, one of only 5 in our country's history! One day, this private finds himself face-to-face, across the room from MacArthur himself. He is talking to someone, but otherwise, there was a clear line between he and the general. The private B-lines directly over to the general and interrupts him. 'Sir, I've been wanted to meet you for a long time. It's a pleasure!' General MacArthur politely shook his hand and thanked him for his kind words. Then he simply stated. 'Private, I'd like to introduce you to General Eisenhower." This story almost made me fall over! This private was so focused on meeting his hero that he was willing to interrupt a 5-star general to do it. He was blinded by his tunnel vision. He interrupted two 5-star generals and 1 future President of the United States. The lesson here is clear. You need to learn how to read the room, survey your surroundings, and act with patience. This private could have waited and made a great impression on both, but he ended up making a poor impression on both. ​