What To Do When You Lose A Home Cleaning Client Because Of Poor Performance

Losing clients is a routine part of running a residential cleaning business. Clients leave for many reasons— perhaps the homeowner moves or loses their job. In some cases, however, clients leave because of poor performance.

It stings when the blame falls squarely on your shoulders, but it also presents an opportunity. It's the perfect time to uncover weaknesses in your system and make improvements that can prevent future losses.

Have you lost a Client Because Of Poor Performance?

First Steps When Losing a Client Due to Poor Performance

When a client fires you, you may feel an urge to get defensive or angry. Take a deep breath and thank them instead. They deserve your appreciation for having supported you. Keeping things cordial is also practical—a rude send off increases the chances they'll make their complaints about you public.

Also, make it easy for them to sever ties—reimburse them for services they were unhappy with if you feel that's the right thing to do, rectify any problems that you can, remove them from automated emails, etc. Don't cause additional stress to an already dissatisfied customer because, once again, doing so will encourage bad word-of-mouth advertising.

Conduct Research as to Why They Fired You

The most important, yet frequently overlooked, response when a client terminates a contract is, “why”? Ask even if you think you know the answer, but wait until you are calm and ready to hear any response.

If your operation is small enough to allow it, talk to the customer in person or over the phone. If that isn't feasible, send a survey. Either way, ask why they cancelled and whether they've hired another cleaning company.

They may be upset about an isolated event (“you broke an irreplaceable heirloom”) or a deeper problem in your relationship (“you didn't communicate well”). Whether their responses are logical, plausible, emotional, or irrational, listen to what they say. This feedback can be incredibly valuable.

Make Any Necessary Changes

Evaluate your former customer's responses. Was your company at fault? Was the situation preventable? Is it likely that this is part of a larger pattern? If you determine your company caused the loss, deal with the problem right away.

If you lost the account due to poor service, review all your documentation on service issues with the account. If there is no documentation, why? If you aren't tracking phone calls and emails received from clients, then you are missing a huge opportunity to track possible performance issues.

If you have documentation, how were service concerns being handled? Was it a problem with one employee? If so, check the employee's personnel file to see if there was any documentation about the issue. Did the supervisor take care of client concerns by telling someone to take care of it and then never following up to make sure it was resolved? In this case, it's a supervisor issue.

Check with the supervisor and/or employees that cleaned the home. What was their experience with the client? Did they communicate directly with the cleaners instead of reporting problems to supervisors or management? Sometimes cleaners don't have the same sense of ownership in their job as supervisors or management, so if they didn't take care of the customer request right away, it probably never happened.

After digging into what happened, discuss it in your management meeting to see what you can do to avoid this in the future. If you uncover a problem with a specific employee or team of employees, make it a point to check out all other homes they clean. Chances are, if there was a problem in one home, there's a problem in the other homes they clean.

How do you handle it when your employees make mistakes while cleaning your accounts? Do you simply fix the mistake and move on? Or do you go above and beyond what is expected to turn your customer into a loyal client?

Woo the Client Back

In many cases, a customer who cancels due to poor performance is gone for good. There are times, however, when you can win them back. If there is any hope of recovering a lost contract, you must first rectify any problems outlined during the exit process.

After making improvements, send an update to let the customer know that your company has changed for the better because of their feedback. Don't ask them back just yet; the goal here is to improve your image and make the customer feel heard. A sincere “thank you” can go a long way in paving the way to a possible return later.

Reach back out to the client after a month (and again after three months). Thank them for the business, remind them of the changes you've made, and let them know you'd welcome them back at any time. There's always a chance they could be disappointed with their new service provider and reconsider their decision to leave you.

Even if they don't return, they'll likely appreciate your efforts to improve, which could decrease the chances they'll badmouth you to others.

Prevent Losses Earlier

Of course, the best way to deal with cancelled contracts is to never let it happen in the first place. Here are a few ideas for preventing dissatisfied customers:

• Improve your onboarding procedures: Set the right tone from the start of a new contract. When you and your client are on the same page from Day One, you're one step farther down the path to improving your client retention rate.

• Step up customer service: When you wow customers time and time again, they are far less likely ditch you over a single bad experience or even a short span of poor performance. On the other hand, say “that's not my job” when someone asks for help or take days to resolve a problem, and you may lose a customer for good. Click here for 10 tips for improving your customer satisfaction and retention.

• Upgrade your training procedures: Losing clients for poor performance is frequently preventable. Regular, consistent training for all staff members is the best weapon against customer complaints. Invest in quality programs, and implement them throughout the year, not only during a new hire's first week.

• Be proactive in client communication: It can feel uncomfortable to talk to your customers about problems on their end (pets running free, uncleared walkways, etc.). But avoiding these tough conversations can backfire later when either party boils over with frustration. Prevent this problem by creating and enforcing a written policy to handle this type of communication.

• Handle complaints with class: There will always be customers who complain, no matter how meticulous you are. Avoid the temptation to respond with anger, and instead remain calm and professional. An outsized reaction is a surefire way to lose a customer.

• Regularly check in with clients: Send out customer satisfaction surveys to your customers on a regular basis. This is one of the best ways to learn about problems before the escalate, so you have a chance to resolve them before they slip away.

It's never fun to lose a client, but it's even worse if you don't learn anything from the loss. If you lost the client due to your own poor performance, then it's time to step up and make sure you're taking care of the rest of your clients the way you promised when you took them on as a new client.

Customer Care Training Program for Residential Cleaners
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