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April 20, 2012: The Residential Cleaning Connection
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The Residential Cleaning Connection
News, Networking & Events for the Cleaning Professional
April 20, 2012 - Vol 3, Issue 8
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From the Executive Director
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Comments That Make My Day
 What a great ELC! Kudos
to Alison Palmer, Diana Henley, and Dee Strickland for putting together
an outstanding program that gave out members plenty of useful takeaways.
Two things happened I want to share with you.
At the first break on
the first day, one of our larger, successful and established members
came up to me and said, "This guy gets it! That one tip he provided was
more than worth the price of admission, and is going to make my company a
lot of money going forward." (Page down in this newsletter to see the
tip).
At the end of the day on
Saturday as one of our newer, smaller company owners was heading out,
he stopped me to say "Thank you, I have learned more in the last two
days about running my business than I learned in the last year."
Comments like those make
my day. Both our ELC and Convention committees work very, very hard to
put together educational programming that will be useful to the broad
ARCSI membership. No easy task when our membership ranges from $2
million, long established, 40+ employee companies to new start ups with
one or two employees and are just trying to make ends meet.
We survey members for
their input on topics and speakers. We survey them again, and again.
Staff and committee members actually view websites or give us reports on
speakers they have heard or seen at other functions. We don't just
randomly select our presenters.
Despite the diligence,
best efforts, and hard work by our committees, at the end of the day it
comes down to you and your expectation. There are always some very good
"nuggets" from all of our presenters. It comes down to how well you
listen.
I am sure that our older
member did not come to the ELC expecting to find the magic bullet that
would solve all of the problems in his business. For the most part he's
"been there done that." He did, however, expect to get something that
would help his business improve, and he found it. Maybe that kind of
attitude throughout the years is why his business has grown steadily and
is successful.
The new member, like
most in his position, was like a sponge, soaking up everything. His
challenge will be sorting out what will work in his business from all of
the options presented to help him continue to grow and be successful.
Finally, the other
aspect of both our ELC and Convention that is tough to quantify, but
perhaps the most important part of the whole event, is the connections
you make. Not just business connections, but life-long friendships. The
conversations that take place are unbelievable. The greatest tribute to
ARCSI members is their willingness to share information and
experiences, not for personal gain, but to simply help fellow
members.
To paraphrase the popular commercial....
ELC Registration: $300.
Air fare to Orlando: $329.
Hotel room: $222.
Connecting with ARCSI Members: PRICELESS!
See You in Chicago! Watch your email for program and registration information.
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 Happy
Earth Week! Natural cleaning has caught on with more and more
consumers. What is the best way to get a natural clean? What products
and equipment get the job done and can be trusted?
Join ARCSI Board
member Diana Henley of NatualCare Cleaning Company as she shares her
experience with green cleaning and moderates this call.
Hot Topic Tuesday calls are sponsored by the ARCSI Membership Committee. Come join us today!
Click here to register now.
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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 ARCSI Board
member Dee Strickland, owner of A Zing Zap Cleaning Service, as she and
ARCSI member Enid Tate-Shephard host the ARCSI New Member Webinar on
April 26 at 10:30 am EDT. They will explain how to make the most of your
new ARCSI membership! To register for this free Webinar, click here.
Don't miss this opportunity to ask questions and understandhow you can get the most from your ARCSI membership.
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 ARCSI
member Better Life natural cleaning products was featured in the May
issue of Real Simple, a national magazine. The line's "Simply Floored"
product was named the magazine's "Best All-Surface Cleaner."
To check out the product or for more information, go to the Better Life website.
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Last week, business
leaders gathered in Orlando, FL, for the 2012 ARCSI Executive Leadership
Conference, but many came a few days early to join the new elite
professionals earning their House Cleaning Technician certification.
With four classes in four months, ISE started asking participants: what
will you tell others about the HCT certification? Here's what they've
said.
 Dee
Strickland, 5-year veteran of the residential cleaning industry and
past ARCSI Convention Chair, had so much incredible new information
swimming in her head, she had trouble picking just one of the valuable
lessons learned about cleaning wood flooring. But beyond that, Dee has
found the critical missing element in her employee training that can
enable her cleaning technicians to make informed choices while on the
job. But perhaps the most telling illustration of the class's value is
that the first thing Dee did on the Sunday following the ELC. She
printed out all of the MSDS sheets and begin "working through the use of
our cleaning agents and safety use by our employees." Here's what she has to say in her own words.
 New
cleaning business owner and ARCSI member Benja Lane of Extreme Gleam
breathed a sigh of relief, full of new hope for her business now that
she has the basic science foundation of cleaning to complement her
business savvy. Here's what Benja has to say.
Thirty-year industry leader David Kiser, who co-authored The Professional  House
Cleaning Technician's Manual, continues to learn and to generate new
employee training ideas and programming just by attending the class and
becoming officially certified himself. David, who attended the Executive Leadership Conference, had this to say about his experience in the House Cleaning Tech Certification class in Orlando.
Hulda Brown-Jones, estimator, inspector, and technician for
Castle Keepers of Charleston, has changed the way she looks at a prospective
client’s home: "I pay closer attention to different hardwood flooring and stone
finishings than I have before to identify the best and most effective way to
care for them. And I actually have the knowledge to make an educated decision
on what is most effective, which makes our clients feel that they can trust us
with their home’s care.”
After learning of the
significant health dangers of using bleach, especially to cleaners who may be
in regular contact with chemicals 40+ hours each week, ARCSI Seal of Excellence
holder Nancy Holekamp of Maid in Texas "remov[ed] all bleach (only had one
product with bleach anyway) from our caddies.”
IICRC Exams Chair Janet Dobbins illustrated the bottom line
value of being HCT certified: "I would strongly encourage companies to become
certified. The last company I personally used ruined 550 sq. ft. of beveled
hardwood in my home by mopping it with Murphy’s oil soap and water. I had to
spend over $1600 to have it sanded and refinished.”
But perhaps Dee’s final encouragement echoes best the desire
of the professional cleaning industry to be acknowledged as the true
professional and technical discipline that it is: "If you don’t invest in
educating yourself about materials, surfaces, and how to care for your client’s
home contents, how can any company sell its services without this knowledge?
There’s so much more to cleaning a home than buying a bucket and a mop. I feel
much more empowered now that I have a 160+ page manual to refer to and share
all of this cleaning knowledge with my employees. Smarter workers means happier
clients!”
As an IICRC-approved school for the House Cleaning
Technician certification class, the Institute for Service Excellence has four
more opportunities for you, your company leadership, and especially your
cleaning technicians to become HCT certified in 2012. In addition, ISE offers a
program for arranging to have your entire company certified in one class. To
see ISE’s full schedule of HCT classes, visit www.ISEToday.com;
ARCSI members can register for an ARCSI-sponsored class at a discounted price!
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 Small
businesses around the country can take advantage of free computer
security workshops to help strengthen their information security,
determine their readiness against security breaches and safeguard their
business information from computer attacks. The U.S. Small Business Administration, Commerce Department's
National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Federal Bureau
of Investigation's InfraGard will conduct a series of workshops on
information security threats and solutions designed for small
businesses.
This joint federal partnership promotes information security
training and computer protection for the nation's small business
community and will help to identify information security
vulnerabilities that can put small businesses at risk and the protective
tools and techniques used to assess, maintain and guard their
information and systems.
The protection of sensitive data such as business invoices,
payroll records, client and employee data and other proprietary
information is essential to a company's success. A computer failure or
other system breach could undermine a company's reputation, expose it
to costly recovery expenses, and disrupt the business' overall
operation.
Small business owners will learn how to protect themselves from
intentional attacks or unintentional damage, guard themselves from
decreased productivity caused by security breaches and evaluate the
needed security tools and techniques. Participants will also learn
useful and practical steps to take to protect their business'
operations.
In addition, business owners often cannot afford extensive
programs or a full-time expert in information security. The computer
security workshops will help educate business owners on potential
weaknesses and the corrective actions to take.
For additional information on the computer security workshops, including local area registration information, click here. |
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|  The 2012 Executive Leadership Conference is in the books and attendees had a lot to say about the event!
One
new member, who attended after hearing about the event on a new member
webinar said "It is the best money I have ever spent.
New
members learned right alongside more established, long-time members to
learn about growing their residential cleaning business through sales,
effective sales techniques and how to develop a sales plan for their
businesses.
On Saturday, members couldn't get enough of
employment law attorney Greg Hare, of Ogletree Deakins. Hare answered
question after question, helping member solve employee issues like
unemployment claims and workman's compensation issues. Many attendees
specifically asked that Hare be brought back for the 2012 Cleaning
Convention!
Saturday afternoon brought important and interesting
topics. Amber Guy delivered information on preparing your residential
cleaning business in case of a natural disaster. Member Shirley
Perlinsky spoke about her recent experience of dealing with a hurricane
and flooding in New Jersey.
Sharon Cowan closed out the
conference by breaking attendees into groups to work on reading and
correcting Profit and Loss Statements, and helped members zero in on
numbers they need to be regularly monitoring. "THIS is the kind of
information we need!" said one session evaluation.
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