Is my cleaner over communicating?

Question

Hi everyone! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I am managing my first STR. I set my communication up through Guesty to automate booking and task notifications for my cleaner. On the day of cleaning, my cleaner sends me texts and pictures of all the things that may be dirty or damaged.  She's sending me pics of a dirty outlet, sticky stuff in a cabinet, games that weren't put away, etc. In the bigger scheme of things, minor items like that are not important and she should just clean them and not notify me. A torn blanket that I need to re-order is something I should know. What are everyone's thoughts and advice on that?

P.S. The guests who have stayed in my house have 5 star raving host reviews on Airbnb, so I'm wondering if dirty outlets, sticky things in cabinets, torn blankets, trash not taken out are a normal occurrence I should just accept and move on from?

John Underwood · Answer

Over communication is better than too little. You are well informed!

JD Martin · Answer

Unless there's some reason you can't just ignore the pictures you don't care about, I'd thank her for the great job and being so attentive - most cleaners won't care enough to tell you any of that stuff.

Dave Stokley · Answer

Your cleaner is your primary eyes on the property so over-communicating is much bette than under. Unless it’s a huge burden I’d let it go. Also, cleaning is kind of a crappy and lonely job, so she probably needs someone to vent to. I’d just say “thanks, I really appreciate your attention to detail and the great job you do.”

Eliott Elias · Answer

Have the cleaner send all these items in a shared drive instead of directly to you. If you ever want to see the photos you just open the folder up. I wouldn't stop the cleaner from communicating like this.

Jeff Langley · Answer

I’d rather have thorough communication than no communication.

With that said, my cleaners only notify me when something needs addressed. Set clear expectations with your team and have those conversations at the beginning and when necessary. I personally don’t care when a sheet is stained or a light bulb is out. I empower my team to solve problems on their own and only include me when necessary.

Operate it like a business and not a job. My $.2. Best of luck!

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Let her take all the pictures she wants, but she should only send the ones that require your input. If the outlet is dirty, clean it. If the cabinet is dirty, clean it. If something is broken and requires replacement, that is something she should send to you so you can charge the tenant and clean it.

Her only communication should be when you need to be involved to make a decision or when the cleaning is complete.

As Eliott mentioned, pictures can be dumped in a shared drive or sent to you after the job is done.

Anna Antipkina · Answer

The property in newly renovated. The issues I'm seeing are small, such as what looks like Avocado smeared on a light switch and a sticky substance that was hard to clean in a kitchen cabinet. The blankets I have are of high quality, it looked like someone took a knife or scissor to it because it was a perfect cut, not on the stitches. But I'm just starting out so I need good reviews first before I can complain over $100 in my opinion. For now I'm just telling myself (in a yoga pose) that it's part of the journey! lol

Mary Frazier · Answer

@Anna Antipkina Merry Christmas and Happy new year to you as well! I know from personal experience with having an STR that a great cleaner is so important. I have been through my fair share of cleaners, but now have an incredible one now. I would honestly say yes over communication is better than none, but I get over communication can be frustrating.

I have found when I lay out in the interview process what I am looking for and what they can expect from me it works. Just let her know when really needs to communicate and thank her for being so attentive (of course if she isn't she needs to go anyway). What are the important items are for you? Mine are letting me know if anything is broken and needs to be replaced, when items are low and need to be restocked, and if she is running late for the next guest check in. Other than that we just exchange a few pleasantries and an occasional I send her bonuses just to say how much I apricate her ( I factor this into my cleaning fee).

Wishing you the best!

Leslie Anne Morris · Answer

Just share good communication for what you do and don’t want to hear about. To be honest this is pretty awesome, but time consuming for the cleaner.

Anna Antipkina · Answer

Thank you all for your input! Since this is a new venture for me and a new partnership with her and her husband, I figure we'll work out the kinks as we go. She has been very coachable when it comes to feedback and expectations and yes her communication is impeccable. We get along as people as well given that we're about the same age and share a similar work ethic. I'll use this as building blocks on perfecting how I interview and set expectations in other markets as I continue to scale. Thank you all for the sanity check!

Is my cleaner over communicating?

Most Popular Reply