How to Handle a New Client Call

Updated by Josie Paolini

How to Handle New Client Calls:

There are key pieces of information you will need in order to assist a potential caller into becoming a permanent client. After answering the call with our standard greeting, "Thank you for calling Queen of Maids/Qleen (Caller ID will indicate which company they are ringing)! This is Josie. How many I help you today?" you can then acquire the following in a natural and conversational manner:

  1. CURRENT CLIENT? - Usually a caller will state from the start whether they are looking for a quote or cleaning service. This opens the door for you to lead with, "I'd love to help you with that. As a question, have you ever used our service before?" Open up a New Booking and select New Customer to build from here.
  2. NAME - Upon establishing this is in fact a new client, you will want to acquire their name so you can sprinkle it throughout the conversation to keep the flow as personal and friendly as possible. "Well, I am so glad you gave us a call. May I ask your name, please?" "Good to meet you, John. So you were looking for information on our service?" This offers the client the opportunity to explain the nature of their call. Please pay attention to any details and record it along the way as you create the new booking.
  3. ZIP CODE - After letting the client describe their situation or question, affirm you have been an active listener by repeating a key detail they might have mentioned while shifting the chat into gaining their zip code. EXAMPLES: "I'll take a look at our schedule and customize that quote for your home in Las Vegas. May I have your zip code to pull up the service area?" or "Well, congratulations on your new home! Let's take a peek at your service area to see what is available. May I have your zip code, please?"
  4. HOME FACTS - After entering the zip code, please segue into acquiring the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, overall square footage, exclusions, and pet status. Examples:
    1. "Thank you, John. I have that service area pulled up in our system. We'll need a little bit of information to give you a quote. First, may I ask how many total bedrooms and bathrooms you have?" Sometimes a client will quickly jump to say, "Well, I don't need all of the bedrooms cleaned." To this, you can say, "Not a problem at all! We'll take the total number of bedrooms and discount your cleaning cost for each one you would like to exclude."
    2. "Perfect. I have that plugged in. And how many bathrooms?" The same process for possible exclusions exists.
    3. "Wonderful. Now do you happen to know the overall square footage of the home?" Some people will give you a super specific answer. Most, however, will estimate. Please always follow up with a disclaimer along the lines of, "Thank you for that. Since pricing is based on square footage and type of cleaning, we always double-check the size of the home to ensure you're getting an accurate quote." This disclaimer covers us should they have under-guessed and we have to increase the price. If the client says they do not know the square footage, please tell them you can look it up on their behalf and ask for the address. Perform a Google Search and use a reputable source such as Zillow, Realtor, or RedFin. In the case of apartments, you will often stumble on the complex' website and can figure out square footage based on the floor plans featured. PLEASE NOTE: We require square footage proof on every booking in the Admin Comments section: "1200 sq/ft: Zillow Link/Realtor Link HERE."
    4. "Do you have pets?" If yes, "Alright - Cats, dogs, or both?" There may be questions at this point about what the cleaners ought to do with their pets or if they are allowed to be present for the cleaning. We would typically say, "Absolutely! We know pets are a part of the family and our providers do not mind. We just note when there are pets in the home so the cleaners are aware and can pay special attention to surfaces in case of fur, hair or dander." If you are asked if this poses an additional charge, you can respond, "There is a small fee of $----, yes, to account for that detailed work of ensuring any hair and dust from the cats/dogs/cat and dogs is addressed." If you receive push-back, we would rather save the sale than overly quibble. Offer a reduced and/or waived pet fee as you see fit.
    5. "Just so we can direct the cleaners, do you have any rooms or spaces you do not want us to touch?" If exclusions were not already discussed in the bedroom/bathroom breakdown, we can open the door at this time. Should the client confirm, please nail down how we would recognize it. The only closed door on the second floor? A sign on the door? The one blue door in the house?
    6. CONDITION - We need to establish the condition of the home by asking questions such as:
      1. "Since I cannot walk through your home myself, can you describe areas that you feel might need more attention?"
      2. "Are there any places - such as baseboards, window sills, corners, etc. where you have noticed more dust build up?"
      3. "Do any of the sinks, showers, or tubs have hard water or soap stains?"
      4. "Has the home ever been professionally cleaned before? If so, how long ago was it last serviced?"
      5. VERY IMPORTANT: "In order to get the maximum benefit for the cleaning, we highly recommend surfaces be as free and clear of personal belongings as possible. Since we cannot provide organization or put away service, the providers may have to skip areas they cannot access."
  5. TYPE OF CLEANING - You should have all of the information you need about the home and now need to shift into finding out about the desired cleaning type and condition of the home. Here are helpful questions/statements:
    1. "Do you have an idea of what type of cleaning you would like or perhaps some of the priorities you want us to address in the home?"
    OR
    1. "Have you had an opportunity to look at our website for the type of cleanings we offer?" If no - "No problem at all! May I shoot you a quick text with a link that will give you a breakdown of our cleanings so you have it as a reference? We can talk it out in the meantime over the phone." If they say yes to this, feel free to send them a text on Front with this link: Cleaning Checklist
    2. If you are asked to describe the difference between our Standard, Deep, Or Hourly Services:
      1. Standard - "Our Standard Cleaning is a great way to give the house a once-over. It's essentially a good sprucing; similar to what you and I would do to maintain our home on a weekly basis and make sure it is company ready. We address broad areas such as countertops, appliance faces, floors, basic dusting of furniture, and trash, to name some of the tasks."
      2. Deep - "Deep Cleaning is all about making sure your major surfaces - like counters, cabinet fronts, outside of appliances, and doors - are wiped down and sanitized. Plus, we really get in there and dry-dust ledges, blinds, baseboards, vents, and more to make sure we've handled all of the smaller details of the home. This is a great choice if you've never had professional service or it has been a while."
      3. Hourly - "You can choose to order service for a minimum of two hours with either a solo or team, depending on house size and availability, and we create a customized checklist of your personal priorities for the cleaner(s). They will tackle the items on that list during the allotted time and pause wherever they are when the clock stops. If you need more attention and they don't have another cleaning lined up immediately afterward, you can also approve them continuing." If you are asked what the cleaners do if they complete the tasks and there is still time left on the clock: "Our cleaners will fill the remainder of the time performing tasks on the Standard Cleaning Checklist so you receive the maximum benefit."
      4. Recurring Cleanings - If a new client is curious about setting up a regular cleaning schedule, please let them know we offer weekly, bi-weekly, once every three weeks (tri-weekly), and monthly service with discounts depending on frequency.
        1. Weekly Cleaning - First service is full price and every cleaning after with this frequency is 15% less.
        2. Bi-Weekly - First service is full price and every cleaning after with this frequency is 10% less.
        3. Tri-Weekly & Monthly - First service is full price and every cleaning after with this frequency is 5% less. No discounts beyond.
      5. Exclusions and Adders - It is imperative that you go over both of these in a sales call. You can keep the terms simple for the sake of time, but DO NOT skip it.
        1. Especially in Deeps, Move-In/Out, and Heavy Duty condition services, please share: "We offer other services for an additional charge that might be a benefit as well such as cleaning the inside of the fridge, oven, or cleaning the interiors of your windows. If you want to explore those services or hear about others, please let me know."
        2. "We want to make sure you know about our excluded services as well, which can be found in our cleaning checklist link that I can send. In broad terms, our providers are unable to handle any biohazard, including pet messes, mold, treat permanent or deep staining, provide trash hauling or address pest issues, and for the safety of your surfaces and equipment, will not touch electronics or wash walls. The complete list is available in the link for your reference."
  6. PRICE - Once you have established the cleaning package that best suits your client, you can now share the price. "Alright, John, based on the size of your home and setting you up with a single/recurring TYPE cleaning (include number of hours and team size if hourly), your price will be $XXX.XX. This includes your adders/exclusions of DETAILS. This quote also covers all supplies and equipment, so you will not to provide anything to the cleaners when they arrive."
  7. SCHEDULE - Do not linger on price overly long. Slide the conversation toward the calendar with a simple conversational shift, "I am taking a peek at the schedule right now - Do you prefer mornings or afternoons?" Based on the client's preferences, you can then find which day/time works best.
  8. CONTACT DETAILS - This is the point in the conversation to gather any information you have not already gained. Address, Phone Number, Email Address, Last Name, and any other supporting info such as where the cleaners should park, gate codes, lockboxes, etc.
  9. CREDIT CARD & CANCELLATION POLICY - Under no circumstances do we schedule an appointment without credit card information. Even reasonable explanations such as, "I am driving right now, but will be home in just a moment and can call you back." are not enough. Our standard answer is, "We require a credit card to secure a booking. I can keep notes on everything we talked about so you shouldn't have to go through the process again when you call back. As a disclaimer, we cannot guarantee that calendar slot will still be available as we operate on a first-come-first-serve basis."
    1. Barring the rare occasion when the client may need to call back with a credit card, you can gather the credit card information and share our cancellation policy: "Thank you for credit card information, John! Just so you know, you are welcomed to contact us at any point if you need to make adjustments. We do ask for 24 hours notice or greater if you have to cancel or reschedule. If you cancel inside of the 24 hour window, there will be a $50 late cancellation fee charged to the card that will go directly to the cleaners as it is unlikely they will be able to fill the slot at that notice. You also must have electricity, hot water on all floors, and heat/AC (depending on season) set at a reasonable temperature. If these utilities are not available, we will have to cancel the service with a $100 fee for the cleaners' time." And then move on to review! We prefer not to linger here.
  10. COMPLETION - As you end the chat, you should take the time to thank the client for calling in, invite them to ask any final questions, and confirm that an email with the booking details should be hitting their inbox. We want to keep this warm, friendly, and full of gratitude.

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