Don't Spend Your Life Cleaning

Hire A Professional Maid Service

A Bird? A Plane? Nope, It's A Window Cleaner

A five-star hotel in China dressed its window cleaners as Spiderman in an effort to avoid disturbing guests.

The Shanghai Sheraton Hotel said they wanted to minimize the affect of the week long cleaning. "Nobody wants to see a person suddenly appear outside their window, so we thought of dressing them as movie characters, which should be fun and harmless," said a hotel spokesman.

The hotel says they were not expecting the Spiderman cleaners to attract so much attention.

Maybe we should dress our staff in Mary Poppins uniforms??? Would that create a stir??

How To Get The Ball Rolling

Adding another customer to your database doesn't just mean that you've got another revenue source. It means that you've added another employee to your payroll.

And the best thing about your new employee is that you don't have to pay him anything. In fact, he's willing to pay you. And he's probably willing to pay you on a regular basis.

A customer is your opportunity to shine. Most of our customers receive our service at least twice per month. That means that we get at least twenty four chances to make him happy. And the more we make him happy; the better the chance that he'll talk about us to his friends or family.

And then, of course, we get yet another free salesperson. That's how the ball gets rolling. It's up to you to decide how far the boll rolls.

When Your Price Is Your Headline

Your competitive advantage is your price when it's mentioned in your headline. Of course, your price is probably good. It better be good if you're leading off with it.

The $80 House Cleaning

The $15 Per Hour Maid

The Free House Cleaning (sort of)

Our slogan is "The Most Customer Friendly Housecleaning Company In The World". Our advertisements always mention our customer service. Everything we print mentions our customer service. Because customer service is our strength.

Why do you think gas stations have really big signs? Because the only reason you're going to pull in there is because of the station's gas prices.

What's in your headline? Whatever it is.....that's what you're good at. At least that's what your customers are thinking.

Buying A TV

It doesn't matter if you're buying a newspaper or a flat screen television. The decision to purchase comes down to a simple thought. What makes your product better than their product? The consumer must be able to answer that thought in a few seconds. If the consumer can't answer in a few seconds; she buys the cheapest product available.

Now check out this article on flat screen televisions.

It takes a full page to describe the difference between LCD and plasma technologies. The average consumer isn't going to read this. As a result, the average consumer is going to buy the cheapest flat screen televison she can find.

Same goes for your maid.

On Free Estimates....

Service companies are notorious for offering "free estimates" to prospective customers. There's only one reason why they offers these free estimates.

The reason: everybody else offers them.

The problem with offering free stuff is that your free stuff becomes useless once somebody else offers that same free stuff. And you can't go any lower than free. So you're stuck. Stuck doing the same thing as everybody else. Stuck doing the same thing forever and ever. Stuck offering free estimates when everybody in the world also offers free estimates.

Of course, you could be a little different. You could do what we do. We give you 30 free lottery tickets if you invite us into your home for an estimate. Yep, we pay you for estimates. That's even better than free.

Inevitably, somebody will wake up. They'll discover that rewarding prospective customers for estimates can be just as rewarding for your business. And then they'll start offering free lottery tickets. And then we'll have to do something different.

Of course, I never thought that we would still be the only cleaning company in the world to utilize the pay for performance program. But we are. So who knows? Maybe nobody will figure out our version of the free estimate after all.

Some things never change. Some businesses do change. Two Maids & A Mop changed a long time ago. Our industry didn't.

Thanks goes out there to all the cleaning companies out there that offer free estimates. You make our business look a lot better.

One Reason

You go to the same grocery store for one reason. You eat at the same restaurant for one reason. You keep hiring the same housecleaning service for one reason.

Or, you change grocery stores all the time. Or, you change restaurants all the time. Or, you change housecleaning services all the time. If you do, you don't have one reason.

That's how simple it is. A consumer decides to give a business hundreds of dollars just because of one simple reason. It could be that the grocery store is close to home. It could be that the restaurant serves your favorite dish. And it could be that the housecleaning service shows up on time every time.

In our case, we have one big reason. It's the pay for performance program. People keep hiring us to clean their home because they know that we care. Our proof is that we let our customers tell us what to pay our employees.

That being said, some customers keep hiring us for all sorts of other reasons. We show up on time every time. We pick up the phone first when they call for a quote. And some people hire us because we're close to their home (that one still doesn't make any sense to me).

You can't make a consumer listen. You can't force a consumer to hire you. But you can give that consumer reasons to hire you. Give them enough reasons and they may need you for that reason.

Not Your Normal Cleaning Service

Two Maids & A Mop is proud to say that we are not your normal cleaning service. The most obvious deviation from our industry is the pay for performance compensation plan. Our customer's satisfaction directly determines our employee's level of compensation.

In Canada, there's another cleaning service that also wants to deviate from the crowd. This cleaning company not only cleans, but it also saves birds. That's right. When you hire this cleaning company, you're saving a bird's life. Here's a quote:

"And it's not just a few birds," says Smylie, citing statistics that show bird collisions with buildings account for between one hundred million and one billion bird deaths across North America each year.

Many of the fatal collisions occur during the day, after the birds have been attracted to the urban landscape at night. "Unbeknownst to them, the very tree that they're flying into next is a reflection of the tree they just left and they end up hitting a window," explains Mesure.

Who knew that those night-time cleaning companies were unknowingly killing millions of birds each year?

And I thought that Two Maids & A Mop was different!

Our Competition

We compete against all types of cleaning businesses. The competition ranges from companies that only employ one person to companies that employ more than 10,000 people. The common denominator is that we usually don't have to compete real hard. The small business does the same exact thing as the big business. And they do it wrong.

Except for this company. They're innovative. They're creative. They're full of energy. They're not doing the same thing as everybody else. And they're the most successful cleaning company in northern Europe.

Cleaning is boring. A boring industry doesn't have to be full of dull businesses. Boring industries usually make it easy for a business to succeed. Just look at us. A simple five minute idea has created 49 jobs and three business locations. All within three years.

Our competitors will wake up one day. Right now, we're nobody. At some point, another smart business owner will realize the power of our pay for performance program and he'll start using it too. The dominoes will start falling from that point forward.

We're changing the cleaning industry. Our competition is letting us do it. I'm glad we're not in northern Europe.

Weekly-Biweekly-Monthly

Those three words are in every advertisement for a maid service. Don't believe me. Open your area yellow pages.

You won't find those words in our ads. We'd rather use the space to tell you why we're the obvious choice. We talk about what we do while we're in your home. We talk about what makes us different. We talk about mistakes that other cleaning companies make. We tell you why we're better.

One other note about maid service advertisements. Everyone already knows that your estimates are free. Quit stating the obvious.

Quit making it so easy for us.

Turning An Industry Upside Down

Ever heard of a bio-diesel car rental agency?

The reason that you've never heard of one is because this an industry first. This company did the opposite of everybody else.

How To Turn An Industry Upside Down

Create positives out of your industry negatives. Or, just do the opposite of everybody else.

The housecleaning industry suffers from astronomical employee turnover levels. It's been this way since the inception of our industry. The problem continues today because the industry continues to use the same, tired compensation policy. TwoMaids doesn't. And we're turning the housecleaning industry upside down.

The housecleaning industry is not perceived as a professional trade. Why should the industry be respected? Nobody is ever on time. Nobody ever seems to care when you complain. Worse, nobody ever really looks professional. TwoMaids does. And we're turning the housecleaning industry upside down.

The housecleaning industry's number one complaint is that everything starts out good, but then gets worse over time. That's called human nature. Human nature occurs when there is no checks and balances. There's only one company that has a pay for performance plan in the housecleaning industry. You know who that is. Our first cleaning is just as important as our 100th cleaning.

We're doing the opposite of everybody else. And we're turning the housecleaning industry upside down.

Wasting Away

I talk a lot about my hero, Warren Buffett. Warren has a famous cousin named Jimmy. Jimmy Buffett's music evokes a laid-back, no worries lifestyle. You think of water, boats, and frozen drinks when you hear his music. His music is a brand and he's made lots of money off the brand.

Brands get greedy when they get really successful. The brand gets caught up in itself and thinks it can use its identity to create new markets. Only two things can happen when you attempt to cross market your brand.

1. The market that the brand originally dominated is eroded.
2. The image of the brand is sacrificed.

Jimmy Buffet is no different. He became famous for playing music, but today he does all of this:

- Licenses the franchise rights to 24 Cheeseburger In Paradise restaurants
- Operates 13 Margaritaville Cafes and Stores
- Sells Buffett footwear through department stores throughout country
- Licenses microwaveable seafood products sold in grocery stores throughout country

There are no tour dates set for 2006. His music has to slow down in order for him to attend all the functions required by the different arms of his new empire.

A brand can only represent one specific thing. It can't be everything.

TwoMaids is a brand. One day, a lot of people will attach "customer service and housecleaning" to the brand. At that point, we could start manufacturing TwoMaids cleaning products or we could license our name for apparel such as aprons. But we won't. We'll just keeping cleaning houses. And we'll keep dominating our intended market.

I wonder what Jimmy's cousin would tell him?

The $950 Cocktail

Here's a great example of a company that creates value out of a commoditized product.

Click here...

Create Value

The consumer price index (CPI) is a measure of the average change in prices over time in a fixed market of goods and services typically purchased by consumers. It covers about 80% of the nation's population.

A recent news article stated that the November 2005 CPI dropped more than any other month during the past 56 years. That's good news for consumers. You are paying less now for stuff than you were in October. But, is it good news for a business?

Not if your business operates as a commodity. A commodity has no specific advantage other than cheap prices. Look at the nation's commodity markets. Traders pay more or less for a good based on its expected price increase or decrease. Nothing else is analyzed except price fluctuation.

A business was not designed to operate solely on price. This has become the norm because business owners forgot how to compete. It was easier being cheaper than the other guy. Times are changing. A business needs more than just a low price today. A business now needs to offer something that provides value to the customer. A business is destined to fail if no value is created by the purchase of its goods or services. You can't always be the cheapest, but you can always be the best at something.

Need an example? Would you rather pay $350 per night for a room at the Ritz-Carlton in Manhattan, or would you rather pay $90 for a room at the Howard Johnson in Manhattan?

There's a lot of people that would select the HoJo. However, there's just as many people that would select the Ritz. It's called a market. A market has supply and it has demand. In this case, a cheap hotel has a demand. So does a hotel that provides you with unbelievable views, plush rooms, and tons of amenities.

A business can't serve everybody. Some people want you, others don't. Start creating value out of your goods or services. If you build it, they will come.

Nobody Needs You

You need everybody.

Your service or product is among millions of choices. You may think that you've created a revolutionary product or exceptional service, but you're wrong. Nobody needs you.

The postage stamp used to be a necessity. You needed it for all types of delivery. The internet changed that pretty quickly. The postage stamp is no longer a necessity.

The late night local news used to be a necessity. You needed it in order to catch up on global, regional, and local events. Cable TV changed that pretty quickly. The late night local news is no longer a necessity.

The normal cycle of a business goes a little something like this. It gains strength during the early stages. It begins to attract more and more customers. All of sudden, it is now dominating a market. That's when the curbs are put in place. The ambition, energy, and spirit of the start-up fades away. A new stubborn resistance to change sets in and allows another start-up to define another market. The cycle repeats itself.

A business must continually evolve in order to maintain its market share. It's a difficult proposition. The money is so good when you're on top. It's hard to mess with something that looks like it's working.

People never really needed you in the first place. You needed them and you gave them reasons to select your product or service. Those reasons have been replicated by other companies. Those reasons have been refuted by other companies. Those reasons no longer apply. You've got to give them new reasons all the time. Otherwise, you're destined to live the cycle.

Get over yourself. Nobody needs you.

When Price Doesn't Matter

There once was a time when I thought that we could be the most affordable cleaning company in town. I don't think that any longer.

Our original employees were paid poorly. They performed poorly.

We were cheap. As a result, we had no problem finding new customers. The problem was that we had trouble keeping those new customers. We signed up new customers just as quickly as we signed up new employees.

It was painfully obvious that we needed to raise our employee's wages. There was only one problem. We also needed to raise our customers rates in order to afford our employees. Try telling an unhappy customer that he needs to give you more money so that you can fix the problem. It wasn't a fun time, but it was essential for our survival as a business.

It hit me one day while in a department store. I was searching for a stapler. There were plenty of staplers to select from that day. About five if I remember correctly. What intrigued me was the price deviation from stapler to stapler. The really cheap stapler cost about $5, while the most expensive stapler cost just over $125. They each did the same thing, they stapled.

I thought, "Why would someone purchase anything but the $5 stapler?" I was intrigued, so I asked a store employee. What she told me was alarming. The $5 stapler was the most popular item, but the $125 stapler wasn't far behind. I still didn't get it. I pressed on. According to her, the expensive stapler belonged in a classy office setting. Professionals use the expensive stapler, while everybody else uses the cheap stapler. That's when it hit me.

People are more than happy to pay more if they perceive the higher price results in more value. I was scared to be the most expensive cleaning company in town. I preferred being cheaper because it was easier. Higher rates meant that I needed to provide more value.

We not only needed to raise our employees wages, we needed to increase our value. We did it and our customers are glad we did it now.

Your product or service must provide more value than any other available option. That's when price doesn't matter.

Boring Makes It Easier

We don't manufacture circuit boards. We don't know how a semiconductor works. We don't have "dot com" after our name. We clean houses and we're boring. And that's the main reason we're successful. Nobody pays attention to boring industries.

Boring industries have been around forever. A company can dominate a boring industry for a long time because nobody else wants to enter the industry. It's hard to get a bunch of venture capitalists excited about lawn care, plumbing, or housecleaning.

I was at an entrepreneur club meeting recently and witnessed this first hand. It was an open meeting and the club was looking for new members. Of course, I eat this kind of stuff up. I decided to attend and network a little bit. I walked into the room and started mingling with the current members. I talked about our history and our plans for the future. I thought that totally reinventing an industry seemed pretty exciting. I was wrong.

The conversation was redirected to another group that was speaking to another potential new member. The other guy had just started a new company with a fancy technical name. He talked about his plans for the future and his current situation. The members went crazy over this guy. I've never seen business cards exchanged quicker. Anyway, the meeting started and I sat next to this guy. Turns out, he doesn't even have a customer yet. Better yet, he doesn't even have a product to sell yet. About the only thing he does have is a fancy business name.

People like being smart. People feel good when other people tell them that they're smart. It's hard to act smart when you clean houses for a living. That's fine with us.

It's easier for us to succeed when nobody else cares. Boring makes my job easier.

Change The Rules

Glen Bell changed the world. He managed a little hamburger diner before it happened. He opened a marginally successful hot dog stand before it happened. It finally happened one day. It happened because he finally figured it out. To win, you have to change the rules. You have to make new rules.

It started out as a tiny taco stand, tucked away in a bad California neighborhood. It wasn't done back then. In 1952, you either served hot dogs or hamburgers. All other food was served in full-service restaurants. No way was this going to work. Of course, it did work. Of course, we're talking about Taco Bell.

Taco Bell seems status quo today. In 1952, it was revolutionary. Customers lined up for the tacos and burritos. Glen Bell couldn't open enough locations. It didn't work because the food was superior. It didn't work because it was located in a great location. It worked because it was different. Taco Bell changed the rules.

Taco Bell spawned all sorts of alternative fast food chains. It created a new category. The food was fast, good, cheap, and way different than any other fast food restaurant in town.

Glen Bell tried to compete with the market leaders of his time and it didn't work. You can't catch a speeding bus when you're traveling at the same speed. You can either lag behind or quit chasing. Glen Bell quit chasing. He started his own race.

It takes courage, skill, hard work, and a little luck to make it happen. But, it's the only way. Quit following and start leading. Change the rules.

Life Before The Remote Control

It's like something from the Arabian Nights! From across the room - without ever leaving your easy chair - you can change television channels with a small control that fits into your hand. Just press lightly with your thumb. That's all there is to it.

That's an early print advertisement for a Zenith remote control. Sounds kind of silly right now. But, it seemed revolutionary at the time. Competitive markets change everyday. Sometimes, industries get changed forever.

The invention of the remote control changed the television industry forever. Who wants to purchase a television set without a remote control? Zenith forced each of its competitors to change their business practices immediately. That's what we're doing.

The housecleaning industry has operated under the same compensation structure forever. We're changing that. Our customer's level of satisfaction dictates our employee's level of compensation. It's a new concept today, only because we're tiny. We're not going to be tiny for much longer. The big boys will stand up and notice that change is on the way.

We can take pride in the fact that we changed a industry. However, we can't go to sleep. When was the last time you purchased a Zenith television? They were the first to market the remote control, but they have been surpassed by loads of other competitors. A business has to continually adapt to change or it will fade away.

Don't believe me........(http://www.merl.com/projects/tv/)

Life changes quickly. It's your job to recognize how it needs to change.

What's Your favorite....

restaurant? It's probably not a chain. It's probably a local, family owned restaurant that has served your area for some time. It has a great reputation for awesome service and excellent food. You refer it to as many friends as possible.

hair salon? It's probably not a chain. It's probably a local place that has been referred to you by a friend. It has a great reputation for staffing the best hair designers. Plus, all the cool people go there.

landscaping company? It's probably not a chain. It's probably Bobby, who works in your neighbor's yard. He's friendly, punctual, and he does a great job.

consumer electronics store? It's probably Best Buy. You buy from them because they stock everything you'll ever need.

computer? It's probably Dell. You trust them because everyone you know has one.

auto manufacturer? It's probably one of the big ones. You trust them because you see there cars on the road everyday.

Notice a trend. People purchase products from big, established companies and they purchase services from small, local businesses. The difference is service. People expect better service from a smaller business. A product has limited amounts of support, while a domestic service depends heavily on service for its success.

We have an uphill battle against society if we plan on growing past our current count of two locations. People will begin to lose trust if we lose our focus on customer service. Each customer of a service related business wants to feel important. They want personalized service that only a small business can provide. That's our goal. Get big, but act small.

There are role models to follow. Starbucks is the nation's most popular coffee house. A person would rather go to Starbucks than go to a local coffee house. Starbucks acts small, but they're very big. Chick-fil-A is the most popular chicken restaurant in the southeastern U.S. Nobody competes against them because they can't compete with their food quality or customer service. Chick-fil-A is very big , but they act very small.

Getting big is one of our goals. Staying small is another.

The Unheard Ring

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, did it really happen? Who cares, it doesn't really matter.

If a phone rings in the office and nobody hears it, did it really happen? You bet it did.

Here's a challenge. Pick up your area yellow pages directory and call five random domestic service providers during regular business hours. It doesn't matter who or what, just call them. My guess is that at least three don't answer the phone. Instead, a recorded message picks up and you get the same, tired message that you'll receive again tomorrow when you call back.

The economics of the unheard ring is staggering. One new customer doesn't mean just one new customer. One new customer means that you have another means of marketing at your disposal. Think of a new customer as a seed. By itself, a seed is just that, a seed. Once cultivated, a seed grows and enables other growth to form around it. Eventually, a lawn is formed or a garden is born. That one tiny seed has worked with other tiny seeds to create something much bigger.

That's how you should treat every new customer. Make them happy and you can expect them to spread your message.

If you don't answer the phone, then you lose that opportunity. That lost customer could have potentially resulted in hundreds of new customers.

And all you had to do was answer the phone.

It's Easier Being Different

People work so hard to look like their neighbor. They eat the same foods, watch the same movies, wear the same clothes, and use the same words. Even different people aren't different. Everyone belongs to a clique.

Think about attorneys. They all have the same business cards, work in the same style office, wear the same clothes, and have the same law firm names. If I were an attorney, I'd be different. I would have business cards shaped like a star. I would work in a coffee house environment. I would never wear a tie in the office. And, my business name would describe my specialty. Being different is that easy. It doesn't take long to be different. Just look at what's normal and do the opposite.

The problem is that people get trapped into doing the same things. They're scared to try something new. They're scared of being different.

Of course, something else happens after you establish your own clique. People want to join you. They see your success and they want some of it. So, you're not different for long. Remember my airline discussion? Check out this article (http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2005-08-18-airline-humor_x.htm).