CBL EP 158 The Human Touch: Why Connection Still Wins in a Tech-Driven Cleaning Business

Automation can’t replace trust. In this episode, Shannon Miller explains why the human touch still wins in sales, service, and client relationships—especially in the cleaning industry.

Complete show notes here: https://kleanfreaksuniversity.com/

Chapters

• 0:00 Tempo: 120.0

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 1:44

Welcome back to Cleaning Business Life. I'm Shannon Miller, and today I want to talk about something that's getting overlooked as technology, AI, and automation continue to take over all of our businesses. The human touch. We can automate bookings, follow-ups, payments, even sales funnels. But in the cleaning industry, we still are a people first business. And when we remove real connection, we risk losing trust, loyalty, and long-term clients. So today we're breaking down where the human connection still matters most in sales, service, and relationships, and how to use technology without letting it replace you. Let's dive in. Welcome back. Welcome back to the show. Cleaning business life, and you got me, got me, and got him. Got me, got him. Who doesn't want to be him? I actually used to watch him on Saturdays with my aunt. The clouds. We gotta get the clouds, right? I'll let you guys figure out who that is. Bob Ross. And I didn't put on a mic, but it's okay. Today I want to talk about something that gets overlooked as we kind of progress along with the technology and the advent of AI. I think it's more important now. And and I've I've come, you know, I'm back on my soapbox. Um I've come out and said this publicly on more than one occasion. And and really, everybody wants to use a chatbot, but nobody wants to talk to a chatbot, right? Chatbots are like trying to figure out, like, there's no index that comes with them. There isn't a protocol. You can try to guess what the word is that they've been programmed with, but it still is this whole dynamic of trying to figure out what do I say to get the right person or not person, or can this can this thing really help me without getting a person? So there's this whole dynamic that's spinning around, and maybe in the next five years it'll be way better. But right now, I think still in the cleaning industry, the I can just make sure my mic's on. The human touch, we're still very much a human-based business. I mean, we have cleaning techs, you're the owner operator, depending on what business model you pick, and then we have clients. So we're we're not like a bank, we're not like a vending machine, even though people have attempted to make it that way. We're still very much human touch. And I wanted to talk a little bit, I'm referencing my notes, a little bit about where it matters most. Human touch and sales. I know that we can all go to Carvana and buy a car right online. Like that was absolutely unheard of a decade ago. My my son recently sold his Mustang charger. We won't go into the year or the day, but he got a nice chunk of change for it. And it was totally automated. But at the end, when they're closing the sale, they had a human call and then they talked over the phone because it was over 50 grand, right? So you you have to have that human touch. So that the whole thing was totally automated. They gave appraisals, the computer did the whole thing, but in the end, they had an actual human call him and they chatted over the phone and went over all the bells and whistles about closing the sale. And it technology can be amazing. Technology is supposed to make our lives easier. Sometimes I wonder. There's days where technology doesn't work at all, or we've seen free a lot more. And I don't know if that's because the grid or what's going on, but we've seen the internet crash. And you're like, it's not like when AOL came out, right? And then it was everyone was new. Remember dial up, and we had to dial in to get on, and then you would get bumped because it only would support so many people. Now, so many people have online, offline businesses. You can't operate that part or connect with anybody because we're so codependent on the internet. So you have to have the human touch and sales. And think about the last time you were sold to. I mean, I probably get 100 calls every single day. 50 of those right now are telemarketing calls. And oh, they don't they don't even want to get to know you. They just want to pitch to you because they're required by whatever job they got hired to do. In the Philippines, not only are these guys working the graveyard shift, they're they're openly pitching you. There's no like warm-up lead-in, anything. I get it all the time on Facebook. How many times do I get messaged on Facebook and I either get inappropriate photos or people who openly pitch to me without like rhyme? They have no idea if I'm male or female. They just I would think that if you looked at my profile, you could see that I was female, but who who knows what's going on? So then you start to go, well, is this a person? Is this a chat? What is this, right? Trying to figure that out. Listening more so now than ever before. When I'm in a public place and we're all co-mingling, I'm probably believe it or not, I'm the quietest person there. I'm listening to see if that person's gonna be beneficial for me and if I can give them anything that's beneficial to them. Sometimes when we go to networking events, the person has a hard time listening because they have something they want to say. So they either cut you off and then they vomit whatever it is they want to say because they can't but they can't retain the information, the brilliant idea, and then they can't wait the 30 seconds. So listening is way more important than actually vocalizing. Being authentic instead of reading the script, this can work both ways. Um, we're gonna talk about scraping too. I have that was a very interesting salesy type thing. I don't know. But in any case, being authentic, I like to believe that I'm pretty transparent on authentic. Like people go, you're a real person. Yes, I'm a real person with a VA. It's it's me and her, me and her, me and her, right? And Bob in the background. So trying to practice what you're gonna say. It takes a long time to be comfortable to pitch, right? So if you're not comfortable pitching, a BI group is perfect for you. They are various price points. I know someone who's in a BI that's$2,000 a year and it's exclusive, but it's in a very select area that she services, it works out great for her. Following up like a real person and not a robot, people come in contact to hundreds, if not thousands, every week. I I legitimately I talk to hundreds of people every single week. Sometimes I might not remember you, but I might remember your circumstance. So following up with them, like I try to do my best. I take notes. There's a software program called Click Up. There's a free version, and you can actually take notes and write notes when you go to a networking event and put in relevant information. Has two kids, is married, lives in town, doesn't live in town, likes these things, right? You you want to make it so it's interesting so you can follow them. Hey, it was so great meeting you for coffee. Thanks for taking the time. People don't have to give you their time. Like when we have a guest on the show, I feel like I'm, you know, I'm not worthy, right? Because, but but we are, and and it people don't often have just because we answer the phone, doesn't mean we have time to listen to whatever it is you're pitching or get give you something that you want, right? So making sure that you sound authentic and that you are authentic and that you're operating with integrity. I don't need to go on my soapbox about that. It's super important that you try to be as authentic as possible because people only do business with people they like, know and trust, right? And it says this is a quote in my notes. It says the best salespeople don't close deals, they open doors for long-term trust. So again, and I know that we're in this weird, awkward area in our society where no one communicates from human to human anymore. There, there isn't the in-person networking events that those are becoming like almost dinosaurs, even though I get plenty of business from my chamber, I can't complain there. So having an established relationship with somebody is great. And if you're shy, put yourself in situations so that you can overcome your shyness. It's so important that you are stepping off the curb and you're growing as an individual. And the only way to do that is not to hide behind the phone, right? You can see the horse on my phone right here. So making sure that that happens. So when you have a long-term relationship with somebody or they know of you, you never know what's gonna come knocking on your door. I've gotten huge deals because you're that cleaning lady, right? I'm like, yeah, how are you? And trying to remember what it was about them that I remember. Sometimes I remember them, sometimes I don't. And I have to say, I'm really sorry. I talk to hundreds of people. Can you refresh me? You know, and then they'll be like, Oh, yeah, I totally remember, right? Just being honest. And then the human touch and service. Now, this you would think would be pretty obvious to us, right? I'm still seeing some of you struggle with it. I know that people are trying to automate the cleaning industry. You can buy off a website, which is totally fine. You can buy a package, whatever. I even have it finally in 2025. Goal. I finally, I finally put little packages on my website. You can go check them out, madehyphenbroker.com. But this is where you can either win or lose deals. Like, I have taken a course for something. I spent it was a thousand dollars. It was a thousand dollar course, and I was like, I need this to help me facilitate my journey doing what I do now, right? So twice now I've needed to reach out to them. They have an 800 number. The first time, the person who answered the phone was not very nice, and I was just like, this is my for those of you who are not watching, it's my funny face. Ooh, right? But like, ooh, ow, ooh, ow, right. So it was awful. I I didn't want to interject with this person. It makes it gives you that icky feeling in your stomach. You try to avoid them because they're like a ticking time bomb. And then the second time I had an issue, they were supposed to call me back and never did. They just blew off the whole thing. I had to call them three times. It finally was fixed. No one called me, so there clearly was a glitch somewhere. I have a person who has wonderful deli sandwiches. She's just a little hole in the wall. She's been there like 25, 30 years. She's the one-woman show. But if you don't communicate to her expectations, she will jump all over you. So for those of you who were old enough to have heard of Seinfeld, Seinfeld had a whole episode on the soup Nazi. Rewatch it. This this lady reminds me, she's the sweetest thing. Once you get to know her and you know that she's like abrupt and to the point, militant, right? But if you ever have the chance, watch the episode of the soup Nazi. No more soup for you, right? So there's this whole protocol, you have to wait in line, and if you don't behave, then you get no soup, right? So with her, you have to be, she's totally nice once you figure out what her boundaries are. But if you've not, if you're not familiar with her, she can be like, is she being for real? Right? Is she is she just mean to everybody? And it's just because you're not communicating effectively. It took me a couple tries to kind of go, I don't know. It gave me anxiety, and I was like, I don't want to deal with this person, but her sandwiches are to die for. Absolutely, positively to die for. Love, love, love her. And I always feel like it's a big treat to go there. My kids haven't don't want anything to do with it because there's no kid, it's just deli sandwiches, period. So you you make you need to make sure that you have the human touch still available in your business. And it's sometimes it's even, you know, automation makes it great. There's, you know, the expectation, like, for example, when someone buys something off my website, you should get a thing that says how to log in. You should get the welcome to this course. Here's my email address in case you need to get a hold of me. There should be a little, there's a little bit of a like a five-step thing that has to happen. Just like when you get put on the schedule, there's an automation email that shoots from Get Jobber. It says, Thank you so much. Welcome to the Maid Broker family. This is what you can expect, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And that's an automated thing. So I you don't really need to have the human touch there. And most of the time, people do read those things, right? But sometimes it's even like sometimes things just need to be more empathetic. You know, for example, if you have a client pass away, do you want to stick it to them with a show-up fee? Probably not. It's up to you entirely, but it's the show-up fee is there to protect you and your crew. But if someone dies, you have to kind of weigh that on a case-by-case basis, right? So make sure that you are having empathy. Like if someone's fluffy dies, like I've I've had to put one dog down this week, this month, and then I'm getting ready to put a second dog down. She's 17. I'm gonna miss her. And I'm like, you know, trying to keep busy. Busy work today on Monday, right? So make sure that you are even doing small gestures. Sometimes as we grow and grow and grow, you can have your manager call in and say, Hey, Mrs. Smith, I'm just here checking on you, seeing how things are. And then usually I'll say, Well, we have, you know, I want to make sure that we're all secure for the fourth quarter, which is what I'll be talking about in my next podcast. So I want to make sure that you're doing small gestures, you know, a sympathy card for when someone passes away, a birthday card if you're into that. You could, you don't even have you can mail it, whatever's easiest on you. You obviously don't want to add more to your workload. Christmas cards. You know, I and I've talked about this openly for four years now. My brother passed away in 2019. I used to mail out and we used to handwrite 500 Christmas cards every single year. They were handwritten. When my brother died, I I just I just didn't have it in me. And it's made it awkward for clients who like give cards to me, and then I'm like, I don't, I just don't have it in me to give them a card, right? I don't, I don't celebrate because his birthday is right around Christmas. So it's just this weird dynamic. Probably need therapy for it, but just the small gestures that just make you top of mind. Hey, I wanted to give you a refrigerator magnet. Why do you think that real estate agents give you refrigerator magnets with their calendar on it? They're totally cheesy, nobody uses them, but they're on the refrigerator, which is a total marketing thing. They sit on the refrigerator for on average eight to ten years. Just something to think about if you're wanting to do low budget marketing. So making sure that it's just a small gesture that fixed, remembering their name, sending a quick note after a tough week, taking ownership of a mistake, showing that you actually care. There's nothing worse when I get a rookie business and their cleaning techs aren't employees, they're 1099s, and the business owner doesn't want to be responsible. And they're wanting me to walk them through on how to get out of not paying. I'm like, you are the business owner. Why didn't you vet this person? Right. So making sure that you own it because things, mistakes happen. We're human. If we, and I say this all the time, my mom and I were talking about the other day. If you could walk on water, we'd be doing other things, right? And then finally, relationships, whether in business or in life, here's the truth. This is what it says people don't remember perfect answers. They remember how you made them feel. So when you're making a purchase, it's how you're making me feel. I bought that course because I it was gonna make me feel better because I had more knowledge to do what I needed to do. So this is a hundred percent true. And are you feeling good about what you're doing? We there's a lot of people who don't have any scruples to do like the most asinine thing. And I'm like, what were you thinking when you made that decision? Right? Dude, you just never know. And then being present, you know, are you are you listening on the phone? Are you texting while they're on the phone with you? Are you on Facebook while they're on the phone with you? Are you listening to what they're saying? Just listening to someone complain, yes, it gives them a chance to vent, but are you fully present when they're listening? Is it something that needs to be addressed with the cleaning tech? Is it a system operation that doesn't run right because it's missing the step? And you didn't see this until this happened, right? So that means that it's gone by 5,000 times and now it's an issue because it's always been missing the step, and someone's just now pointing it out. So thanking them, making sure that you're listening. And then it says grand gestures are great, but it's usually the small consistent touches that keep relationships going strong. So remembering their birthday, remembering their name. I have people all the time who I run into and they're like, I know you. And I'm like, You do? Are they gonna say something good? Are you gonna say something bad, right? So making sure that you have good relationships with people. I was thinking the other day about how a lot of you guys inside my group have been there. Like, five, I know, like, I know whose dogs died, your kids have grown, I've watched them grow. We've celebrated birthdays on Facebook together. I mean, I've done a lot of things that we have all connected in the last five. I feel like most of you, my family. So making sure that you have the human touch in your relationships really does help people want to continue to buy with you. So the takeaway is technology is here to stay. And it's it's gonna be kind of roughshod over us for a while. I won't go into any dystopian theories or any conspiracy stuff, but uh, I think that there is a benefit to technology, and it and it's human to it's it's here to stay. But having that human touch is what sets you apart, uh, especially in sales, service, and relationships. The person who cares more, listens more, and shows up with awesome authenticity will always win. So being genuine, don't showing up and should and like being annoyed because you got invited to this thing. Even if you don't want to go, send someone else in your stead just to represent you, coach them on what to say, you know, answering keywords. And then I challenge you to look at your day to day life and ask where can I have more of a human touch? So maybe it's your sales process, maybe like people are shocked when I'm like, hey, can you just Give me a call. I need to chat with you. And they're like, You want to talk to me? Because it's important. Sometimes you can't convey what needs to be conveyed through Messenger or on a text message. You can leave voice memos. Yes, that works too. It's gotten way better. The technology, the it's not so wah wah, wah, wah, wah. But it's gotten a lot better, and especially in the last four or five years. And then where are you hiding behind automation instead of connection? Or people will hide behind their phone because they don't want to talk to you. You know, I don't want to talk to you. You're old. I've had people tell me that. I'm like, well, thank you. People say the most interesting things to me. I don't know why. It's just I'm like, okay. So because at the end of the day, people may forget what you said, but they'll never forget how you made them feel. Again, I reiterate, feeling is so important. Like when you, yes, we can work really hard, have sweat running down us, three and a half hour clean, and it sparkles. They walk in, they can smell a little bit of chemical smell or essential oil or whatever you're doing. And it just feels calming. It's so good for your mental health. It's how you made them feel. So this concludes my little talk on the technology and having the human touch. So thanks for tuning in. And if today's episode resonated with you, share it with someone who needs a reminder that human connection still matters. And I'd love to hear from you. What's one way you plan to add more human touch to your sales, service, or relationships this week? Until next time, keep it human and keep it real. I look forward to your comments. You have a great day. Take care. So here's the takeaway. Technology is here to stay, but the human connection is what sets you apart. That and customer service, real customer service. We can talk about that in another episode. The business owner who listens more, shows up authentically and actually cares will always win, especially in a service-based industry like ours. If today's episode resonated with you, share it with another cleaning business owner who needs that reminder. I'd love to hear from you. What is one way you're adding more human touch into your sales, service, or relationships this week? Until next time, keep it human, keep it real.