MaidThis Cleaning is a California-based cleaning company that specializes in vacation rental cleanings. They’ve built their business by being professional, reliable, but most of all, using their vacation rental knowledge to enhance the guest experience for their clients’ businesses.

Studies by BeyondPricing have shown that a 5-star cleanliness profile results in 20% more bookings

As well as being experts in getting you a 5-star review, MaidThis has also conquered the difficult world of building a community of loyal customers.

So, we spoke to them to find out how they work with vacation rental companies to provide the ultimate guest experience.

Q: Hi MaidThis! Tell us about how you got started in the vacation rental industry cleaning business?

A: We (the founders) ran our own vacation rental and had more than a few cleaners who canceled last minute or didn’t know the intricacies of a vacation rental cleaning, which resulted in bad reviews.

Hosts are running a business and shouldn’t have to deal with flaky or unreliable cleaners, and it was infuriating that it was so tough to find a reliable cleaner. After talking to other hosts, it seemed a lot of people were running into this issue. So we ended up building a service for all hosts to get access to reliable and vacation rental trained cleaners!

Q: How can you make sure guests say ‘wow’ when they enter their vacation rental home?

A: The no-brainer is the make sure the place is spotless! The first thing guests look at is the beds, so a nicely made bed will set the tone for how the guests view the rest of the property. The most effective “wow” thing that doesn’t take much time/effort is to leaving some beverages in the fridge with a personal note for the guest, which will help you get that 5-star review.

Q: Vacation rentals and cleaning services both rely on customer trust. How do you generate trust for first-time bookers?

A: The biggest thing we need to prove to customers is reliability. We have a “Never a No-Show, Guaranteed” promise, so hosts know that we promise that our cleaners will always be there. The next most important thing to prove is that our cleaners know vacation rental cleaning. We call all customers after the first booking, and if anything is wrong we send the cleaner back to fix it at no cost.

Q: Sounds great! Once a client has booked – how do you exceed their expectations?

A: Outside of doing an awesome job at cleaning, we make sure there is a lot of communication! We have designated Customer Happiness Managers whose sole job is to ensure customers are happy and all of their concerns are handled…we call customers periodically to check-in how the service is going. All complaints are handled within 24-48 hours. We want customers to have a relaxed feeling when working with MaidThis because they know we have their backs…so everything we do is geared to that mission.

Q: There are many similarities between how you acquire customers and how managers convert enquiries into guests. What is your conversion strategy?

A: You want us to give away our secret sauce?! The dirty secret is that there IS no secret sauce. We make sure that we address the main pains our hosts are going through. So all of the wording on our website, our sales pitch, everything is geared towards our target audience and that it addresses the concerns of the host. Then we just need to live up to that promise, which we always do!

Q: So there’s no one single secret…pity!  How did you build your first-time clients into a community of return customers?

A: Often times customers come to us because their previous cleaner flaked or wasn’t trained in vacation rental cleaning. It leaves this customer a bit wary of ANY cleaning service, so it takes at least a couple cleanings to break through that ice. We have a lot of upfront communication at the first booking so customers understand that MaidThis knows vacation rental cleanings and delivers on promises. As long as we consistently deliver on our promise, we start developing a trust with the customer and they start to relax and enjoy letting us take care of things.

Q: What are the things people forget most frequently when it comes to cleaning a vacation rental property?

A: Cleaning towels and linen is the hardest part of it! When hosts leave out too much linen or towels, guests will seriously use everything. This causes a spiral effect because the cleaner needs to focus on the laundry to get it done in time, which potentially can cause less attention to other details. So only leave out how much linen the guests need, not more!

 Q: What effect does a professional cleaning have on vacation rental ratings?

A: Studies by BeyondPricing have shown that a 5-star cleanliness profile results in 20% more bookings. A 20% increase in bookings MORE than pays for any increase in price to hire a professional cleaning service. More than that, it allows hosts to free up their time to deal with guest satisfaction, which can result in higher ratings.

Q: Why do major vacation rental companies come back to you?

A: Managing cleaners and ensuring quality is a tough task…there are so many variables to consider. We ONLY focus on cleaning and that is our specialty, and we’re pretty darn good at it. If we tried to get into property management, it wouldn’t be our core skill and therefore we would probably not be great at it. This goes the same for vacation rental companies…cleaning isn’t their specialty, so they love working with a professional cleaning company who can handle the turnover while they focus on what they’re great at.

Q: How do you think vacation rental managers can make their properties stand out from the crowds?

A: Reviews are the name of the game in this business, so having a lot of good reviews is #1. Outside of that, there are certain unique things that can be added to homes that will cause a person to book your home versus someone else. Some examples: information on your profile about the WiFi speed at the house, a stocked fridge with beverages for the guest (and pictures of this on your profile), a BBQ grill in the backyard, etc. These small things can cause someone to book your home versus another comparable home.

Q: Finally, what are some of the strangest things you’ve found left behind in a vacation rental property?

Ha! So many funny things left behind. One time a cleaner found an entire room of inflatable animals. We have no idea how the inflatable animals got there or how they all fit into the room, but the entire room was filled with them. Either a really good prank by the guest or a very nice present for the homeowner’s kids 🙂

Thank you to MaidThis for their time and expertise!

If you want to see how you can integrate professional cleaning schedules into your master calendar, try a live demo of Vreasy today.