How to Handle Criticism From Your Cleaning Customers

No matter how well you manage your business, you will have to deal with criticism from your cleaning customers. It's an inevitable part of the service industry; things go wrong, things get overlooked, and mistakes happen.

Some customers call occasionally to let you know something was missed the night before. These customers are easy to deal with because they know things happen and know you'll take care of it.

But the calls we often dread are the ones from the clients who never seem satisfied and continually criticize. Or the ones that don't call often, but when they do – watch out!  Those of us with a thick skin and a calm, professional response will often turn around a difficult situation and satisfy the customer. But some cleaning business owners respond defensively and maybe even negatively. When you do this, things can quickly escalate and get worse. So learning how to handle criticism in a way that keeps everyone happy is a skill that must be practiced.

Handling criticism from your cleaning customers can help improve the quality of your cleaning service

Criticism can be a valuable tool. In order to learn and improve from the situation, you must of course remain calm and listen objectively to their comments. Your natural instinct might be to defend your company and defend your employees. You might even bristle at the suggestion that someone in your company did something wrong. After all, you have poured your heart and soul into your business and it hurts when someone suggests your company is anything less than perfect.  

Criticism, or if you prefer more pleasing words such as negative feedback, opinion, comment, or suggestion (we will use all of these periodically throughout this article) from your cleaning customers is just part of business growth.  Learning to cope with it in a professional way and responding quickly is what really matters. Don't jeopardize your cleaning business's reputation and brand by letting your emotions and words get in the way. Use it to your advantage!

Here are 7 simple tips to keep in mind so you can handle criticism and turn it into an opportunity and positive learning experience.

Tip #1: Don't Take it Personally

There will be times you receive polite criticism and times where the person is just plain harsh and unfriendly. The latter will be the most difficult to handle professionally, simply because you will feel like you are under attack. Remember that everyone sees the world from a different point of view. They may be having a bad day and are simply taking it out on you. Or perhaps their perception of clean is well beyond the service they agreed to.

Regardless of how tempting it may be to lash back, take the high road and simply listen with an unbiased ear, then come up with a reply, and finally, decide on the best course of action.

Tip #2: Listen and Determine Validity

Always keep an open mind. Remember, everyone makes mistakes and there may have been something you or one of your cleaning technicians overlooked. Try this simple trick, replace the word "criticism" with "opinion." Listen to the other person's “opinion” and see if they have valid points and concerns. Some people just want someone to listen to their “opinions.”

Additional TIP: If possible, take notes during the conversation. That way you can go back later, review and evaluate their opinions, see if any of their points are valid, and initiate the appropriate response or action.

Tip #3: Consider the Source

Ask yourself; does the person making suggestions actually have the knowledge or background to provide you with suitable feedback? If your cleaning technicians forgot to vacuum a floor mat, that's one thing. But if someone is making suggestions on how you should strip and wax a floor, that's another. Does that individual even know the proper process or what can and can't be done?

In most situations they don't. But by all means, don't mock or poke fun at their suggestions. Instead, listen, explain why things are done a certain way and thank them for their suggestion. This is something you will want to discuss with your employees also, since most of the time they will be the ones being confronted by your customers or one of their employees. 

Tip #4: Ask for Specific Examples

If someone says "your cleaning wasn't up to par" or “your cleaners need to do a better job”, that doesn't help you fix any problems or deficiencies. Ask the person to help you by stating specifically where there are issues - such as soap dispensers not being filled, trash cans that were not emptied or put back in the right place, desks that were not dusted, or breakroom counters that were not wiped down.

Tip #5: Offer a Solution to Fix the Criticism

We once had a receptionist call and complain “the trash can in the break room was not emptied again and we're sick and tired of constantly having to empty it ourselves.”

Our response was; “I understand Mrs. Smith that this must be upsetting for you and I will definitely look into the problem immediately.” That calmed her down and she thanked us for being attentive to the problem and listening to her grievance.

After some a quick discussion with our cleaning technician assigned to the location, we discovered the problem. The facility manager made two changes. First, he reduced the number of days we cleaned the facility to just one day a week. Then, he actually downsized the trash container in the breakroom to a smaller, under the sink size, and their employees were throwing large 32 oz. half full fountain drinks into it.

We resolved the issue by simply adding an additional trash can. Then we let Mrs. Smith know why there was a problem, how they can help us with the trash overflow problem, and that we added the additional trash can. Problem solved.

As a side note, this was also a teaching moment for our cleaning technician. He would have noticed the problem of overflowing trash due to fewer days of service and should have reported it to his supervisor. We could have addressed this with the facility manager to let him know that the combination of fewer days of service and a smaller trash can was causing problems. This is a case where being proactive in the service we provide can go a long way in providing better service and avoiding problems.

Tip #6: Share the Feedback with Your Cleaning Technicians

Is there anything that you and/or your cleaning technician(s) can learn from the comments that were made? Be an open book when it comes to sharing the criticism with the employee(s) who were involved – but do it in a constructive way that helps performance. If there was a task that was missed or poor quality of work, talk to them about it. Ask them to participate in solving the problem. Turn it into constructive criticism. This will hopefully resolve any future duplicated problems, and may just improve their productivity. Remember; do this one on one, never in front of others.

Tip #7: Don't Dwell on Negative Feelings

It's always tough to tolerate criticism without feeling like you are being personally attacked. But letting go of those feelings and accepting the opinions and criticism of others, can potentially improve the cleaning services you provide. You aren't perfect and neither are your employees. Sometimes things get ignored, neglected, or missed. Keeping your head high and accepting criticism in a gracious manner shows you are a true professional.

To quote Frank Lane: “If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm.”

As a society, we are sometimes quick to anger and criticize others. But we are also a society that is easy to forgive and forget. Responses to criticism that have the “human touch” usually put out the fire and have customers coming back for more. Understanding, compassion and using a soft tone will get you everywhere.

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