Bilyana (left) accepting her award from TidyChoice co- founder Ana (right)

The Home Care Professional of the Year Award celebrates the most skilful, professional and reliable housekeepers and child carers. The 2018 winner, Bilyana, received the most votes from customers and outstanding reviews.

We spoke to Bilyana to find out why her customers love her so much.

Hi Bilyana, congratulations on winning our Home Care Professional of the Year award 2018! 

How did you feel when you found out you had won the competition?

Absolutely thrilled and surprised! (laughs) When they called me and said I was a winner, I couldn’t believe it, because I am not a lucky person.

When I told my husband that somebody had called me and told me about this award, he said are you sure? (laughs)  Nobody believed it because I never win anything!

You certainly deserved this award because all of your customers voted for you! What do you think makes you good at doing the...

Here at TidyChoice we are aware of the daily challenges that face our registered cleaners. Being a housecleaner is far from an easy job and sometimes homeowners do not make cleaners’ tasks any easier. Here are 5 challenges that homeowners may inadvertently place upon their cleaners.

Not enough cleaning products

Sometimes, despite homeowners claiming that they will provide cleaning products, there is nothing to use. This could be because they only want organic cleaning solutions or are very picky with their choice of brands. Furthermore, sometimes homeowners fail to provide a mop which can result in cleaners having to wash floors on their hands and knees.

Washing Up a disorganised home

Pans and plates that have been soaked are infinitely easier to clean. If they are not, this makes a cleaner’s job of finishing within a given time-frame infinitely more difficult. Furthermore, if toys and paper are strewn everywhere, cleaners first have to clean this clutter away before...

What can make customers so annoyed with outstanding professionals to actually stop hiring them? Lack of communications

Keeping cordial, regular and relevant communications directly with customers is the key to having a long lasting professional relationship with them. Customers are usually understanding about unexpected changes of schedule and daily personal challenges. They will accommodate changes as long as they are duly informed.

When in doubt, it is always better to give your customers a call or send them a text when you must cancel last minute, even when you have not worked from them yet. TidyChoice’s statistics, after overseeing so many bookings, tell us that customers are happy to reschedule the appointment. At the end of the day, they have booked you specifically because they feel you are the most suitable option for them.

Situations any professional with good communications avoid

Losing a regular job:

A...

People hire people.  As well as demonstrating your cleaning experience and expertise, it is important that you gain customer trust and that they know who you are. If a potential customer has never met you, how can you gain trust? One way is to create a profile that you can share with them through social media or by email. A good profile is a powerful way to let them know who you are and get hired. It is easy to create a profile in Word which can be used over and over again to get new customers. We give our top tips on content you should include in your profile to get hired.

1. Your photograph

You are no longer a stranger if people know what you look like so including a photograph is important. Ideally, choose a photograph that shows your face and eyes and where you are smiling (similar to a smiling passport photo). We all make snap judgements from photographs on friendliness and trustworthiness so showing your eyes and a smiling face is important. You want to look...

As a great independent cleaning professional with regular customers who still has plenty of available working time during the week, you wonder how you can find new customers.

You know that the first thing most people do when they need a new cleaner is to ask their friends and neighbours if they know a good one. When people get a recommendation from someone they trust, they nearly always try to hire that person. Word-of-mouth is a powerful way to get new customers.

Luckily, letting people around know that you are available to work has never been easier. Social media: Facebook, Twitter, even sometimes email, has become the defacto way of asking people for advice. To make it easy for anyone to refer you, it would be great if you shared with them a link to your profile and verified customer recommendations. This would really make you stand out and increase your chances to get hired.

So do not hesitate to use Facebook and other channels to spread the...