How I Found My Professional Home Cleaning Niche And Became Successful At It

Many of my friends ask me how I manage to keep my positive outlook and find satisfaction as a professional house cleaner. I find the question a bit biased. Don’t get me wrong – I am perfectly aware that most people don’t like cleaning. It is neither difficult nor stressful or as tiresome as my friends believe. And it gives me the unique opportunity to meet interesting, kind-hearted people who have made my day on more than one occasion.

But I guess there is something more to it. I come from a large family of five children (two sisters and two brothers). From a very early age, our parents taught us to share and care for each other and try to be helpful and kind to others. Being first-generation immigrants, my parents insisted on us taking part in community-oriented activities and never forget what a privilege it was to live in one of the best cities in the world.

It is hardly a surprise, then, that my two brothers are civil engineers, my older sister is a nurse at Parkside Hospital, and the youngest is an event organiser at Wimbledon Park Hall. I have taken the same attitude in my profession, which has helped me gain the reputation of the home cleaner dealing with the most difficult customers.

“Difficult” is, of course, a matter of definition. When I started working for one of the leading Wimbledon domestic cleaning contractors, I didn’t have the cache to pick and choose my customers. It would take me some time to navigate the internal minefield of unwritten rules about ascribing new customers – and by the time I learned all about them, I had already cut myself a profitable niche that no one wanted to take.

The thing is, professional cleaners dread working for older people. It is not something they will ever admit, but it is true. According to the widely accepted prejudice, older customers are more demanding and capricious; they insist on minor details that younger, busier people overlook, and they usually stay at home while the cleaner does the chores, which some maids find unnerving. In other words, working for younger customers – ideally single and always at work – is easier, faster, stress-free, and more profitable (younger people with a higher standard of living are more likely to tip).

I will not argue that some of these points are valid. But the crux of the matter lies elsewhere. Ninety-nine out of a hundred professional home cleaners will tell you they want to concentrate on their job and finish the chores as quickly as possible. Such an attitude excludes the desire to talk while dusting and polishing – and there is nothing more that older people like to do than talk.

Finally, I will share an observation that will get me in hot water with some of my colleagues. You may call it a racial or ethnic prejudice, but I do believe that English-born people do not have that implicit respect for older people. Respect for your elders is fundamental in Indian culture and is one of the features of my heritage that I am most proud of.

Adding all this into one mix makes it much easier to understand why I have no problem interacting with our older customers. At first, my supervisors gave me those jobs because I was the team rookie, and nobody else wanted them. But they soon realised my feedback from older customers was markedly better than anybody else in the company. “I don’t know how you do it, Satty, but the Wimbledon elders can’t get enough of you”, half-jokingly, half-admiringly commented my boss. He was astute enough to give me a nice bonus for taking the most “difficult” cases.

So, what is the key to my success? It’s very simple – I listen. I wouldn’t call myself a chatterbox, but I love talking to people, listening to their stories, and even learning from their experiences. I’ve never understood my colleagues who’d rather plug in their iPod and listen to a playlist – chatting with a real human being is so much better! Let me give you just two examples.

Mr Simpson is a retired BBC cameraman who lives near Holland Garden. He used to travel all around the world and work on environmental documentaries. “I’ve seen my fair share of lions, elephants, and tigers, Satty”, he would say while putting the tea kettle on the stove. His stories about Amazonia, the Iguazu Falls, and sub-Saharan Africa are awe-inspiring. Mr Simpson always gets cross with me when I admit I don’t have a travelling list. “You have to travel, my dear girl. Life is not only work and paychecks. You have to see the world and let the world see you.” I must agree he has a point.

Mrs Perceval is one of my favourite regular customers. She is in her early seventies but still very vital and enthusiastic. She loves talking about gardening – a passion she shares with my mother. In fact, I passed her tips for flower planting on numerous occasions. At first, I thought gardening was her hobby. But once, while I was cleaning, I saw a newspaper article she had framed and put on her living room shelf. It depicted the fabulously successful replanting of 500 rose bushes in Queen Mary’s Rose Garden at Regents Park. She was much younger in the picture, but I could immediately recognise my host. After some research, I found out she had been one of the UK’s preeminent park and garden florists, working at some of the most beautiful flower gardens in the city. “I feel like such a noob! All this time, I’ve been doing the house cleaning for a celebrity!” We both burst out laughing.

How could I ever think that people like Mr Simpson and Mrs Perceval are tiresome or “difficult”?