Episode 164 Jay Miller Green Ladies Cleaning Hiring a janitorial salesperson can be a huge blessing or a complete waste of money. Join Mike as he coaches Jay Miller with Green Ladies Cleaning on hiring a janitorial salesperson in today’s blog/ podcast. Jay wants to get into commercial cleaning. He also has a manager who would rather be a janitorial salesperson than clean houses. How does he grow his cleaning company Mike coaches Jay to be careful of the Peter Principal. The Peter Principle refers to promoting a good employee beyond their capabilities. A great way to lose a good employee and get a terrible manager/ salesperson or whatever job you promoted them to. KEY POINT: The skills to be a good janitorial salesperson are very different than the skills to be a good manger or cleaning person. Many of your cleaning employees are going to be great with people. Being a “people person” sure doesn’t hurt, but it doesn’t necessarily qualify them to be your next great janitorial salesperson either. Often owners of cleaning companies like Jay feel like they aren’t good salespeople and don’t want to sell. This can be tempting to hire someone to “handle it”. That is a very dangerous proposition. You don’t have to become a master salesperson, but you do need to know enough to be comfortable making a qualified hire. KEY POINT: Janitorial salespeople are salespeople. Be careful they don’t sell you on hiring them better than they sell your customer on you! Mike coaches Jay to get in the field and sell even if it is only for a couple of weeks or months just to get the experience. It will help with confidence, sales ability as well as the ability to hire the right janitorial salesperson for your company. Professional selling is a big job. If you want it done well, it can be $40-80k/ year salary. Transitioning a cleaner that has made $9-$12/ hour into that role is a tall order. When you do hire a janitorial salesperson, most of their pay should be commission based. BONUS LOVIN: Anytime you can tie pay to performance in your company it’s a win For detailed info on janitorial salesperson compensation, listen to the full podcast. Mike also warns to be careful of the “this guy or gal is free” mindset. It can be tempting to hire any warm body to do sales, throw a bunch of crap against and wall and see what sticks. That can be a very costly mindset. Remember every person you employ represents your company to the world. This goes double for a janitorial salesperson. They require time, training and investment. This is the case whether you pay them hourly, salary or commission only. For commission only salespeople to work, both you and they must take their position seriously. Hold them accountable just like every other position in your company. Before the fun ends, Mike gives Jay the opportunity to share his wisdom with Cleaning Nation via the… Lightening Round What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? Treat people the way you want to be treated and be honest with people. What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made in growing a cleaning business? Hiring someone without a non-compete and hiring their daughter to do the scheduling. Can you share one idea people can use to improve their lives or businesses TODAY? Go green.