The Residential Cleaning Connection   

News, Networking & Events for the Cleaning Professional 

Have your joined ARCSI in the last 30 days? Are you getting the MOST out of your membership? What can ARCSI provide to help your improve and grow your residential cleaning business? Maybe you are not yet a member, but are considering joining.

Join us Saturday, May 19 at 10:30 am Eastern/7:30 am Pacific for the ARCSI New Member Webinar. During this live event, hosts Dee Strickland and Gosia Baran will walk you through how to make the most of your ARCSI membership. We'll talk about education and networking, but also the vast Member Resource Library and how ARCSI can help you grow your residential cleaning business. 

Click here to register now! 

On May 14, 2012, in Chamber of Commerce et al v. NLRB, District Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia enjoined the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) representation case rules (commonly referred to as the "quickie election" or "ambush election" rules) because of a lack of a quorum of three Members acting on the final rule.  

Citing the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in New Process Steel, the court noted that: "At the end of the day, while the Court's decision may seem unduly technical, the quorum requirement, as the Supreme Court has made clear, is no trifle."

The court also noted in granting plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment:"According to Woody Allen, eighty percent of life is just showing up. When it comes to satisfying a quorum requirement, though, showing up is even more important than that. Indeed, it is the only thing that matters-even when the quorum is constituted electronically. In this case, because no quorum ever existed for the pivotal vote in question, the Court must hold that the challenged rule is invalid."

The court did not reach the plaintiffs' challenge to the final rule on myriad grounds. Instead, the court reached only their first contention: that the rule was adopted without the statutorily required quorum.  

The court emphasized that its ruling need not necessarily spell the end of the final rule for all time.

Part of the suit, file by the DOL, alleged that the company misclassified 75 current and former cleaning employees as independent contractors and willfully failed to pay them for all hours worked.    

Click here to read the entire article. 

Congratulations, you are now one of the first certified Home Cleaning Technicians in the world. The knowledge you have learned will help you to provide the "Best in Class" service to your clients. Now it is time to think of ways to use your certification in marketing.   

First, shout it to the world; do not be shy about it! I would recommend you build a page on your website that explains what the certification is and that you had to pass a 160-question test proving your knowledge. Include an outline of the table of contents from the manual to let them know all things you learned about and were tested on. Then put a big star burst on the top of every page of your website, something like "the only company with Clean Trust Certified Cleaning Technicians in our city or state" and link that to your new web page on your certified HCTs. Make visitors want to click on it learn.

Next, send out a press release. ISE has created some press release templates to help you with this. Send these press releases to every publication in your market. I like business publications. Here in Cincinnati we have a publication called the Business Courier, and they have a section called "People on the Move" that shows promotions and job changes. Gaining a "first in the world certification" is worthy of a mention in this section.

Finally, call some reporters especially of smaller niche publications. Owner Shawn Christian of My Maid Service Dallas called Living Magazine and pitched his story; they decided it was perfect for their upcoming Spring issue. The best part is, this was not a paid advertisement; this is FREE press! Below is an example of a story My Maid Service Dallas received in Living Magazine after Shawn called the magazine and pitched his story. They decided it was perfect for their upcoming Spring issue.   This was not a paid advertisement, this was free press.

Most importantly, you're a certified expert. Show off your knowledge. Go through your class manual page by page for ideas.   Use your expertise in your newsletter or as a way to get clients to link to more information. For example, you can put a big link on your site that says "Have you ever wondered why your granite counter tops feel gritty after you clean them? Click here to learn why." That link would then go to a page or blog article that tells them what you learned on proper granite care and how this is just one paragraph of knowledge from the 80 page manual from your HCT class: "If you want a cleaner that really knows the right way to take care of your home, call us for more information." This would also work great as a weekly Facebook or email campaign. After 3 or 4 weeks of explaining the solution to some of the most difficult questions in cleaning, your customer will know you are a true expert.