Cleaning Business Life
🎙 Cleaning Business Life
Cleaning Business Life is a podcast for cleaning business owners who want more than tactics — they want clarity.
Hosted by industry leaders Shannon Miller and Jamie Runco, this show explores the real decisions behind building a sustainable, profitable cleaning company: pricing, leadership, systems, boundaries, and growth without burnout.
This isn’t a beginner podcast.
It’s for owners and operators who are already in the business and ready to think differently about how they run it.
If you’re tired of noise, hustle culture, and surface-level advice — and you want grounded conversations rooted in real industry experience — you’re in the right place.
Want to get a hold of us? Please email us at cleaningbusinesslife@gmail.com
Cleaning Business Life
Episode #34 - Customer Service...Should you ever give a refund or a discount with your cleaning business?
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
The Key to Success: Exceptional Customer Service in the Cleaning Industry
Providing exceptional customer service in the house cleaning business can significantly set you apart from your competition. In today’s fast-paced world, where many customers prefer digital communication over phone calls, ensuring a seamless customer experience is more crucial than ever.
Why Customer Satisfaction Matters
Did you know it takes 40 five-star reviews to counteract just one negative review? This statistic underscores the importance of prioritizing customer satisfaction and maintaining a stellar online reputation. One dissatisfied client can leave a lasting impact, so delivering high-quality service and handling concerns promptly is essential.
Best Practices for One-Time Cleanings
For one-time cleanings, such as deep cleans, post-renovation cleanings, and move-out cleanings, it’s best to conduct a pre- and post-cleaning walkthrough with the client or your cleaning technicians. Having the customer sign off on their satisfaction before leaving the site helps prevent disputes and ensures clear expectations.
When it comes to handling complaints, refunds should be rare and used as a last resort. Instead, offer re-cleans or small discounts where necessary, but only if it aligns with your business policies and profitability.
The Industry Standard: 24-Hour Guarantee
Most reputable cleaning businesses provide a 24-hour satisfaction guarantee, allowing customers to report any missed areas or deficiencies. This policy helps build trust and credibility, ensuring your clients feel confident in your services.
For move-in and move-out cleanings, it’s best to schedule them as the first appointment of the day. These jobs often require extra attention to detail, so starting fresh in the morning ensures accuracy and efficiency.
Training and Employee Appreciation
Your cleaning technicians are the backbone of your business, so investing in their training and development is key. Consider hosting annual or biannual training days to reinforce best practices, introduce new cleaning techniques, and ensure your team consistently delivers top-tier service.
Additionally, showing appreciation for your staff goes a long way in fostering loyalty and motivation. Small gifts, bonuses, or gift cards can make your team feel valued and encourage them to go the extra mile for your clients.
By focusing on customer service, training, and quality assurance, you can build a reliable, trusted cleaning business that attracts repeat clients and positi
Thanks for tuning in to Cleaning Business Life — the podcast for cleaning business owners who want to build a profitable, sustainable company without burning out.
Hosted by Shannon Miller and Jamie Runco, each episode pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to start, grow, and scale a cleaning business — covering pricing, systems, leadership, boundaries, and the real conversations most people avoid.
🎧 New episodes 2x weekly
📚 Resources, show notes, and programs: https://kleanfreaksuniversity.com
Because in life — and in business — clean is just the beginning.
— Shannon & Jamie
I-can-not-emphasize-this-enough!
Most people are not interested in human and human contact and don’t want to deal with anyone unless its text message over their phone. If you provide any form of Customer Service, it will give you an edge of the rest of your competition!
Remember It takes 40 good 5 star reviews to negate 1 bad 1 star review! Each 5 star review is worth at least 70k to your to bottom line!
When doing a 1 x cleaning make it mandatory to have someone do a Walk Through with you if you are cleaning or with your cleaning tech’s. Have them sign that they are satisfied. This has covered my butt on more than one occasion.
Refunds are very few and far between don’t give then unless you absolutely have to.
Partial refunds are even rarer!
I am not a fan of giving out a discount, you decide what is best for your Cleaning Business
The Cleaning industry in general is NOW only a 24 hour guarantee-If they find something that is not to their satisfaction, they can call and we will go back and re-clean any deficiencies, with in reason.
All Move in and move out cleanings should be done as the first appointment of the day. Not in the afternoon. The reason for this is because, most of the time the client does not correctly state what the actual condition is inside the home currently.
( Look for the Episode that discusses the dirt code…)
Have at least an annual or bi annual training day for all your cleaning tech’s
100.00 give away for employee appreciation times
Or a gift cards
