How to Attract and Retain Top Talent in the Cleaning Service Industry - Part 3

Part 1 & 2 in the series can be found here: Part 1 & Part 2

Welcome to the final blog in our hiring series!

As a cleaning service owner, you’re not only in the business of making homes and businesses sparkle, you’re also in the customer service business. The way your employees interact with customers can make or break your business. It’s crucial to understand why customer service matters and how to assess candidates during the interview process.

Customer Service: Key to Retaining Customers

To keep customers coming back, your business must exude friendliness, professionalism, and care. While a superstar cleaning job is important, it only takes one rude or unapproachable employee to drive customers away. And dissatisfied customers won’t recommend your business to their friends and family.

How your team treats customers is just as vital as how they clean. So, during the interview process, you or the person conducting the interview should consider personality types and attitude - imagine how a candidate sitting in front of you will behave in the field.

Uncovering Traits during Interviews

A candidate may look good on paper, have a ton of experience, and meet all your employment requirements on paper. But if their demeanor and behavior during the interview is standoffish, short in their responses, and disinterested in the questions, these may be red flags that the candidate is a poor fit? These signs indicate potential issues in representing your company well in the field. This is the perfect opportunity to ask personality-based questions to gauge how candidates respond to various on-the-job scenarios.

Assessing Responses and Traits

Consider asking questions like

• How would you handle being locked out of a home?
• How would you handle a spur-of-the-moment request from a client?
• How would you handle a client who was dissatisfied with your cleaning job?
• How would you handle making a mistake or breaking something while cleaning?

Their answers can provide interesting insights into their ability to handle stress and to adapt to common situations they might encounter in the field. Do these situations ruin their day, make them annoyed, cause them to shut down? Negative or annoyed responses may signal potential problems when dealing with high-maintenance or anxious customers.

On the other hand, do they try to be accommodating, go-with-the-flow, or take conflict in stride? Positive and solution minded responses could leave a lasting impression on customers and indicate a good fit for your maid service.

Navigating the Current Hiring Landscape

Hiring within the cleaning service industry naturally involves a higher than average turnover rate. The post-pandemic job market has made hiring and retaining employees even more challenging. However, it’s crucial not to compromise on quality.

Employees with a poor attitude and questionable work ethic can be more damaging to your business than being understaffed. Even though finding quality employees is difficult, prioritize seeking out and hiring the best candidates for your company. Focusing on personality-based questions and emphasizing customer service will help you identify the right fit for your maid service. It’s much easier to teach exceptional cleaning skills than to change a person’s attitude or communication style.

For some insider tips from the HR industry on how to help develop customer service skills in your employees, click HERE

To Wrap-up the Series …

As a cleaning service owner in a competitive hiring landscape, it’s crucial to continue to seek out the best candidates who prioritize customer service in order to ensure your company is represented well. The best way to evaluate this skill is through your interaction during the interview process.

Remember, being well-prepared for the interview process is key to providing both you and the candidates with the information and clarity needed to make informed decisions. Be prepared to explain your expectations as an employer and be transparent in answering their questions, as well.

Tailor your offerings, demonstrate your organization and work culture, and go beyond basic benefits and pay to create an environment where employees thrive and feel valued. Invest in treating your employees exceptionally well and continuously develop your own leadership skills, too. By following these approaches, you’ll attract top talent, ensuring the long-term success and growth of your business.

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