This episode of Smart Business Moves brings on Sharon Tinberg to talk about her methods of training cleaning professionals.
But before getting into that, Tom goes into detail on the new forms of PPP and the taxes that may be involved in running your business. Tom says that some businesses may have to end up paying more in taxes because of the money they took from the PPP loans. Depending on how everything turns out on a federal level. However, this was only a short part of the episode. Sharon came on because she thinks training is very important and some people only "play at training". Meaning, they aren't doing it correctly and are basically playing a futile game. If you watch this episode, you can hear about Sharon's tried and true methods of training cleaning professionals. As always, Smart Business Moves is live on Facebook every weekday at 5 pm EST. To watch this episode, click the link below!
Episode Highlights
Main takeaway. Sharon's central rule is that no cleaner should step into a client's home before completing training for every area they'll clean. That holds even for experienced hires, and even if it means rescheduling a client and giving up the revenue (21:49). She said about 75% of training can be finished before the trainee enters a home, with the rest done on the job.
Why cleaning still decides the rating. By Sharon's estimate, half of a five-star rating has nothing to do with cleaning. It comes from answering the phone by the third ring, arriving within the promised two-hour window, and showing up in uniform. Still, she said one cobweb left in the foyer cancels all of that on Google (16:54).
Consistency over creativity. Sharon argued that cleaning needs consistency, not creativity, meaning the same process, procedure, tool, product, and action every time. Liz gave her refrigerator-magnet rule as an example, where handling depends on the type of clean and her three service levels. Sharon used it to show how an untrained cleaner can lose a repeat client.
Working-interview debate. This was the liveliest part of the episode. Tom raised working interviews, citing Amy Wiggs King's one-day approach from the prior week. Liz described her own method, a paid two-day temporary hire. On day one, the new hire hand-scrubs the kitchen floor edges with a toothbrush, and then the trainer asks them to redo it without saying why, to test their attitude. Sharon disagreed strongly. She said the practice treats people unprofessionally, drives off good candidates, and undermines credibility. Her reasoning was that if you believe in your procedures, you invest in training people before they touch anything. She told of an Atlanta trainee who nearly dismissed cleaning work, then became an excellent cleaner because the training felt professional. Liz countered that the test improved her long-term retention. Tom closed the debate by saying no perfect answer exists and that the choice depends on where you want to take your risk.
Labor market. Sharon said Austin unemployment was already back down to 6.2%. In that market, she argued, owners can't afford to drive people away, and building the right attitude is the leader's job, not something to screen for.
The Helping Hands case study. Sharon's friend, who owns Helping Hands in Illinois, used Sharon's networking strategy to win repeat clients at a philanthropic organization. Complaints about cleaning quality followed, and she left the group out of embarrassment, which stalled her repeat-client growth. After Sharon trained her field manager, the business went from $800K to $1.2M in one year. The next year, net profit rose from 12% to 20%. Sharon added that the owner recently had 38% higher revenue than the same month the year before and has passed $2M. The owner's name is garbled throughout the transcript ("Gosha," "Gaucher," "Scotiabart"), and the town is unclear, so please verify both before publishing.
Training ROI statistic. Sharon said training improves quality by 54% and employee retention by 56%. She also said she needed to go back and check those figures, so treat them as unverified.
Aprons. By Sharon's estimate, about half of companies treat aprons as part of the uniform rather than as a cleaning tool. She also said some companies that paid her for training now let cleaners skip aprons because hiring is so difficult.
Liz's view on training. Liz said training should be holistic, covering mindset, attitude, client interaction, and the science of why each product suits each surface. She said it begins at the interview.
Not covered. Sharon ran out of time before her planned section on processes vs. procedures and how to teach each one. Tom said he looked forward to having her back the same time the following week, but Sharon said "next month," so the return date is unclear.
Plugs and closing. Sharon promoted her waterproof six-pocket apron, made in Austin, which can be found on her site by searching "aprons." The transcript spells the domain as "success made easy spelled m-a-i-d," so it's likely Success Maid Easy, but please confirm the URL. Liz noted that Sharon's 750 repeat clients would equal about a $3M business today.
