Tuesday, April 27, 2010

The Magic of Service


My daughter (also a business owner) and I were lamenting the fact that service in business seems to be a dying practice. For instance, my office phone line was slammed about three months ago by a carrier that provides my cell phone service. When I called to cancel it, they BLOCKED any outgoing long distance calls from my number! How incredibly foolish of them. I'm now considering another cell phone carrier after all the years I've been faithful to them. I established a new account with my FIOS provider, and they assured me within 24 hours I'd have my outgoing long distance line again. Wrong! 30 days later I was still without. It seems my order sat on someone's desk unattended for a month. After an hour and four operators later on the phone, I was again assured I now had new long distance service and they would "expedite" manually if necessary, the removal of the block on my line. Wrong again! A third attempt was made a day later and I'm still waiting to see if it "took". Many apologies were given, along with excuses, but what rotten service is that??? Our business has grown on service as an essential component. The customer may not always be right, but their opinion certainly carries a LOT of weight at Clean Reflections. We listen, we correct when necessary and more importantly we do everything imaginable to head complaints off at the pass. We screen our maids with national criminal background checks, they are given a personality screening as well to determine tendencies from punctuality to thievery with much in between. It's not foolproof, but at least we have a headstart on getting to know the character of those we hire. We also train on best industry techniques before anyone sets foot in a customer home or business. We take your concerns seriously. That's one reason we affiliated with SERVICE MAGIC who ran background checks on us just like we do our employees. They also required we show proof of bonding and insurance and only then were we admitted into their exclusive membership. Yep, we believe in old fashioned service. Don't believe me, just give us a try. You can check us out on our profile page at http://www.servicemagic.com/ too. Click on cleaning and maid service and you'll see us there.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Earth Day

Saturday April 17th is Earth Day! What enterprising person thought that up? And how far we've come since Colombus' day in 1492. Back then we thought we'd fall off the earth if we wandered too far from home. Now we celebrate it in all it's roundness while wandering all over it's surface yet cautioning ourselves to not take it for granted. A good idea I think and we at Clean Reflections are in a unique position to be aware since we are in the what I affectionately call the "chemical warfare" business. That's why we use only environmentally friendly products with rare exception. It started from a purely selfish motive I admit. We became highly sensitive to some common products that had bleach in them. We noticed a burning sensation in our throats and worse yet, the following day breathing was labored and we experienced a general sense of malaise. Not good in a labor intensive business! We figured if they weren't good for us, then we didn't want to expose our customers to them either. So, enjoy and celebrate Earth Day in your own way. Never mix bleach with ammonia and always use chemicals in a well ventilated area. Better yet, let our experts show you how new fangled products and equipment can customize a cleaning program for your home.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Spring has definitely Sprung


I heard from our daughter in Idaho today that it is SNOWING there! Not so in Texas ... at least for two weeks now. We did have a strangely late snow for one whole day in March and that was after some of the shrubs and trees had started putting on buds. We survived it though and it's now more like business as usual -- WARM. A good time for cleaning out one's garage (which we need to do in the worst way) or take care of touch up painting around the house (also something on my list) or just a plain old deep Spring cleaning. That means baseboards, pulling furniture away from the wall ... and might as well rearrange the contents of the room with those coaster-like slides while you're at it ... dust the ceiling fans, clean under, around and behind all things normally neglected; the treadmill, the television, the top of the fridge, the lint-y utility room and on it goes.


A friend of mine suggested Spring Cleaning is a hoax perpetuated on already overly busy women. I guess to keep us "off the streets and out of the pool halls" as my now deceased character of a father-in-law often joked. Who knows? But spring does inspire me to get up and DO more than any other season of the year. Perhaps with the greening of the trees and shrubs, and the first peek of the sun, I am motivated to think I can do it ... the days are longer.


If you however, still can't bring yourself to think about piling one more task on your shoulders, I hear and I understand. Give Clean Reflections a call. We can come only once or regularly ... whatever helps you the most. It's an easy number to remember too: 940-566-MAID! Happy spring to you!