I’ve been attending a few of the local networking events lately. I have to say, it’s not something that comes easily to me, but I’ve been persevering, and it’s getting a little less stressful at each attempt. And it’s actually almost good fun!

Anyway, getting to the point… at these events, matters obviously turn to what it is Green Mop does. And this is how it generally goes:

Racheal Green Mop: “We do commercial cleaning…”

Interested Person: “Ohhhh….” *smile and nod*

Racheal Green Mop: “.. and we’re eco friendly”.

Not Very Interested Person: “Oh.” *eyes glaze over* *backs away slightly* *wonders how they can get away from the tree-hugger without appearing awful*

I try to reel them back in. I try telling them I’m not going to preach at them… try to engage them in the benefits of not polluting the air they breathe in their work place… tell them that they don’t need harsh chemicals to keep their office clean unless they’re planning a surgical procedure in the kitchenette. I point out that it’s as easy as choosing whether to put a bit of paper in the recycling bin or in the general waste - same amount of effort, you’ve still got rid of the bit of paper, but one way is sensible and the other way is silly….

Then I realise I’m even boring myself. No wonder they’ve glazed over. And I’d promised not to preach. I’ve let myself down haven’t I!

The point is that eco friendly or green things have a way of sounding, well, self-righteous and smug. So I just wanted to let you all know that at least I am aware of what a twit I sound! But twit or not, why wouldn’t you choose us for your cleaning! We’re fabulous! My new line might be that… we do commercial cleaning and we’re fabulous. I’m going to give it a try!!!
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What a cheesy grin!

This is Craig receiving his award for being the Green Mopper of the Month in August. He works hard at a few of our most challenging sites. It’s not easy, and he is often trusted to work alone. He also willingly helps when we need cover. His site inspection scores are also consistently good. 

Craig works incredibly hard, as do all our Green Moppers. But Craig has just pipped a few other contenders simply because he has a great work ethic and we know we can rely on him to knuckle down, even in tricky circumstances.

So well done to Craig! We think you’re great!
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I went to the Hove Business Association networking breakfast last week where they always have a guest speaker. This time it was Roger French who runs the bus company in Brighton and Hove. He spoke about a number of interesting things, including pricing.

Well, this got me to thinking about our own pricing here at Green Mop. I always try to let people know that we offer a cost effective service, and that choosing ‘green’ shouldn’t mean you have to pay more. Our non-toxic products are actually really cheap. But our labour costs are often more than our competitors as we pay people better and have them on the payroll rather than having self employed status.

I strongly believe that fairly treated, valued staff will perform better than if they are receiving minimum wage and treated badly. That’s why I know we offer great value to our customers. But we probably won’t be the cheapest quote, and it really depends whether people are realistic or not. We recently won a contract for a customer who was paying very little for their cleaning service, but they were very unhappy with the work being done. They learned the hard way that the old adage of “you get what you pay for” holds true! They are now paying a fair price for a good job.

So, I’ve rambled there, sorry. My point is, I could only make our service cheaper if I paid the hard working staff less, or if we cut corners. It was a good exercise to think through our pricing and the reasons behind it. But it won’t be changing….
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If your business is signed up to the wonderful 10:10 campaign, we can help you! As Green Mop doesn’t use any toxic cleaning products, switching to us will help you reduce the impact your business has on the environment.

So, to encourage you to make that change, we’d like to offer 10:10ers 10% discount on their first full monthly invoice when they sign up to a regular commercial clean with Green Mop.

Go on. Give it a try! Discount code is “Give me 10″!
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