When Natoma Canfield wrote an email letter to President Obama last December about the need for health care reform, she had no idea how quickly her own crisis would arrive. The cancer patient had to be rushed to the hospital last Sunday.

Wearing a blue hospital gown, Natoma Canfield had just finished most of her dinner at Medina General. Her slender arms were bruised from repeated attempts to take blood samples. Her smile was warm but tired after a long day.

“It’s frightening having no insurance and being in the hospital since Sunday night,” said Canfield.

As a hospital staff member cleared her trays, Canfield said, “I worked hard my whole life to take care of myself.”

She added, “Now I’ve fallen behind. I have no health care and now I’m going to have a humongous hospital bill.”

The 50-year-old, self-employed cleaning woman gained national attention last week. President Barack Obama read Canfield’s letter at a White House briefing urging health care reform.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, “This is a letter the President will likely take with him to meetings today and throughout this period to remind everyone what’s at stake with the final push for health care reform and what happens if we walk away.”

Canfield wrote the letter to the President on Dec. 29 after she struggled to pay for health insurance. But last weekend, Canfield’s cancer symptoms flared up and she was rushed to Medina General Hospital.

“I am getting great care,” said Canfield, “but without insurance, I have no way to pay for it.”

She said she was notified by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield that her premium had been increased over 40 percent to $8,496.

Canfield dropped her health insurance Jan. 1.

She told Channel 3’s Mike O’Mara, “I can’t tell you that since I’ve been in the hospital, in this room, how many people have come in to tell me that they have a story just like mine.”

Canfield added, “Some of them even have stories worse than mine. I feel so humbled to be able to share my story with the President of the United States and to have him listen and understand.”

At home, President Obama’s thank you letter is already framed. Now Canfield hopes that she will be strong enough to join the President on the stage at the Walter F. Ehrnfelt Recreation and Senior Center in Strongsville on Monday.

“I told my sister that she may have to fill in for me, but I am really, really hoping to be there!” said Canfield, with a grin.

Tonight was different.  Many evenings before this, from my own office or whenever I walked the halls, I would see this middle-aged man working hard to clean our corporate office.  The Cleaning Service company name was emblazoned across the front and back of his maroon t-shirt, yet this man’s name was no where to be seen.

Many times, almost every time in fact, I had said hello or good evening, and this man had graciously replied. His deep voice possessed the accent of what I thought was sure to be the history of an African nation.

Tonight was different.  I was working later than usual.  I left my office to get a drink from the kitchen.  Along the way, our paths crossed yet again.  This time, for some inexplicable reason, I felt the need, not an urge, but a real need, to stop and say more than just hello.  After the routine greetings, I muttered, almost mumbled, “what is your name?”  The strong yet peaceful soul spelled out, “W-O-N-D-E-R, like Stevie Wonder.” I smiled and asked, “Where are you from originally?”  Wonder replied, “Zimbabwe.”

I shared that my wife and I had been to Zimbabwe and that we dearly loved the people and the beauty of this incredible country.  Wonder’s heart must have filled with joy, based upon the look in his eyes at that moment.  He shared sweet anecdotes of life in Zimbabwe as I listened intently.

Suddenly that warm tingly aha feeling rushed over me, as I said, “You know I have something I’d like to share with you.  My wife and I work with an organization called Acres of Love that provides homes for abandoned and HIV-positive children in South Africa.  When you take a break, please stop by my office, and I’ll share something with you.”

Several minutes had passed, when Wonder’s glow illuminated my office doorway.  I shared the brief story of Acres of Love and showed him the video.  As the video ended, I turned to a Wonder who was silently wiping tears away.  I was done.  What happened next, was the gift of life itself unraveled and placed before me as a banquet of grace and love—one of those moments that makes you wish you could “stay right here, without moving, for a very long time.”

Wonder asked if he could share a story with me.  The “ask” itself was filled with such reverence, respect, and servant heart.  Of course.  I was open, eager to hear every word this man had to say.

Amidst the humble sharing of his family’s story, Wonder explained that one son, in his thirties, was about to graduate from the University of Delaware, and had built a great career with McDonald’s along the way.  Wonder and his wife, had brought this son to America five years ago so he could attend college.  Two years ago Wonder’s wife returned to Zimbabwe to support their other daughter, an accountant age 26, and their other son who now lives in South Africa.  Throughout the viewing of the Acres of Love video, Wonder kept politely, quietly repeating that it was God’s work.

Wonder then gently, even delicately told the story of his daughter and son-in-law, and their baby son, who all had passed away from AIDS eight years ago in Zimbabwe.  Still to this day, no one in the family knows how or who was infected first, and they have let this mystery go in their journey for peace and acceptance of this unbearable loss.

Wonder apologized for his tears, and dutifully said he had to get back to work.  I could tell there was something else he wanted to tell me.  It took very little to urge him on.  The safety, trust and grace of the moment embraced us.  I repeated, “No apologies needed. Thank you for sharing!”

Wonder explained that in his small village in Zimbabwe he knew the exact day that he was supposed to have died.  Just after sunset one evening, just steps outside of his own home, five young men assaulted Wonder, taking his watch, stripping him of anything of value, and then kicking and hitting him repeatedly.  As Wonder felt his body “fall in” from the crush of these boys, he clasped his “important papers” in his shirt pocket, and began to think, “Now is the time I am going to die.”

Wonder said he became calm and resigned to the situation, even relaxing his body as he lay on his back with all five boys on top of him.  He looked up at the boys and said, “Boys I forgive you. I do not blame you.  I understand why you have to do this.  Your anger is to survive.  I understand. I forgive you.”  The boys stopped hitting and kicking him, but still held on strong.  Staring back into the eyes of Wonder, they all looked on.  One boy said, “Can you help us?”  Wonder replied, “Yes I can, take my money, but don’t take me, my children will suffer alone without me.”  At this same moment, one boy drew back his knife, ready to end Wonder’s life.  Another boy, said, “No. The money, not the man. He’s a father!”  And all at once, the boys let go their strong hold on Wonder, backed away and ran off.  Wonder closed his eyes and said a prayer.

After arriving home with a swollen mouth and broken jaw, scrapes and bruises, Wonder hugged his wife and children, and cried himself to sleep.  Later that night, Wonder woke with a stirring image.  He looked out his window toward the cemetery of his village.  He saw a grave site, newly dug, with the soil piled high above ground.  The message Wonder heard, “This grave was for you, but it is now nothing but dirt.”  Wonder said he believes this image was a message confirming his faith and trust.

Wonder promptly stood up, wiped his tears, and thanked me profusely for sitting with him.  I said, “I thank you for the gift of your sharing.  You have touched my heart deeply and I wish you all the best.”  My words failed me. I could not think of adequate language at the moment.  I trust he knew though.”

It’s a wonder what life moments bring in the face of pressing in deeper to understand the love that surrounds our human lives.  It’s a wonder indeed.  Here’s to the man who cleans our offices every night.  What a Wonder he truly is.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

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One simple question…do you have this much passion for your business?

Twitter crashed.  Google News was unavailable for some for an hour.  The internet practically choked on the news of Michael Jackson, The King of Pop, dead after a cardiac arrest at his home.  Farrah Fawcett passed away on the same day.  Ed McMahon expired just two days prior.  While these iconic celebrities’ deaths are cause for great sadness, grief, loss and celebration of their lives and contributions,  there is an even bigger takeaway for all of us.

How have we lived…how well are we living ourselves right now?

At our current death rate in the United States (8.27 deaths/1000 population), yesterday on the same day we lost Farrah and Michael, another 8,154 other people died,  in the United States alone.  That’s 8,154 grandparents, great grandparents, moms and dads, brothers and sisters, children and grand children–each with an individual story and a network of family and friends that grieve their loss.

So while the news of Farrah Fawcett’s passing overshadows the loss of 83 year old Nina Pinsky in Paintsville, Kentucky, it all gets glossed over by the video of a Sheriff’s helicopter taking Michael Jackson’s body to the coroner’s office for an autopsy.  Yet this media coverage pales in comparison to the news stories running in the minds of every grieving loved one of any of the 8,156 people who died yesterday, and today, and tomorrow, and every day of the year.

So how am I living?

When my time is up, what will the “news coverage” say about me?  What will be my legacy?

I met Ed McMahon as one of my guests while I was working at the Grand Floridian Beach Resort at Walt Disney World.  I grew up with Farrah’s famous swimsuit poster in my room.  And my ITunes account has Dirty Diana on my favorites list still to this day.  I cherish each of these fine performers for their gifts and contributions to their craft and to the world.

Yet more than anything, I thank them all for the gift of invitation to reflect upon how I want to spend the rest of my life…how I want to make a difference in the world…how I want to remembered, when my day comes.

1. Make a list of what you need–vinyl wrap for your company vehicles, free marketing, coaching, equipment, supplies, training, web site services, accounting, equipment repair.

2. Identify Potential Barter Partners.  Start with partners located within your market whose company is a comparable size to your own.  Research the prospective partner companies online or by asking around about the company.

3. Design your “Ask” by thinking through what both sides need and get from the Barter.  Be clear and honest about it for both sides.  Use language such as “win-win partnership” or “partnership that genuinely benefits both of us.”  Offer, “and you may have other benefits I haven’t thought of.”

4. Ask the Barter Partner.  Start by asking only one company in each service area at a time–don’t ask three accountants for instance, approach one and then wait for the resolution of this potential partnership before approaching another accountant.  Have your calculations done in advance, your service for my company is a $1500 value and therefore I would happy to provide monthly house cleaning of your home for 12 months, a $1560 value.

5. Be specific about the exact steps involved for both parties.  Be sure to identify steps involved, frequencies, support required, resources involved, expected results and remedy or resolution suggested in the event the partnership does not work out for one or both parties.

Don’t forget that you also have gift cards to use, as well as vouchers for free cleanings in addition to the service of house cleaning.

Some great resources online:

www.barterplanet.com

www.bizxchange.com

www.craigslist.org

www.u-exchange.com

Your “Dream Client”

Identifying your “Dream Client” is critically important.  The process of defining your Dream Client pushes you to become far more clear and specific about the nature of your business and your marketing focus.  The creation of your Dream Client allows you to identify exactly the client with whom you want to work the most.   This simple yet powerful concept will empower you to make better decisions for your business as well.
Highest Profit, Most Enjoyable, Best Client Relationship, Least Problems, Most Referrals

For instance, knowing that X is your Dream Client, helps you stay focused upon their issues, needs and likes/dislikes.

You can make better decisions about where to spend your marketing dollars and your efforts.

Who do you want as your Client?

What are your most profitable services?

What frequency is most profitable?

What is the “3-D Picture” of your Dream Client?

• Home Value $XXX,XXX.00
• Bedrooms/Bathrooms/Square Footage
• Age of Home
• Services Provided—Cleaning with Carpets, Windows & ?
• Household Income
• Dual Income or Single Income Couple
• Children
• Pets
• How many cars
• Professions or Careers of Homeowners
• Own Additional Homes
• Travel Volume per month
• Pay by Credit Card; Pay for service in advance–# of months
• Phone Estimate or In-Home Home Health Audit
• How many Affiliate Services Used in One Year

Here are some examples of actual Dream Clients

Actual Dream Client (middle-income buyer)

$195,000 Home

2BR/2Bath

1780 sq. ft.

Weekly Service is $105 (averaged)

5 year old home

Weekly Cleaning with Windows 2X/yr., Carpets 1X/yr.

$78,000 Annual Income

Dual Income-Both Full-time

2 Children under 10—daycare or school full-time

1 dog

2 cars

Teachers, Engineers, Computers, Office, Paralegals

No additional home

Travel less than 2 weeks per year

Pay by Credit Card (pays two weeks in advance)

Phone Estimate

Uses 3.5 Affiliate Services per Year—painter, landscaping, lawn service, pest control, carpets are the most commonly used

Refers 3 or less new Clients per year

Residential Cleaning Service Owner loves this and only hopes to improve this Dream Client by:

1. Increasing Carpets to 2X/yr.
2. Pay by Credit Card with one month in advance
3. Uses 5 Affiliate Services
4. Refers 5 or less new Clients per year

So now the Owner has a focus upon which to work in terms of what they are targeting as their best Clients, along with “stretch goals” upon which to focus with their existing Dream Clients in order to maximize annual revenues from these current Dream Clients.

Actual Dream Client (Affluent Buyer)

$550,000 Home

5BR/3.5Bath

3450 sq. ft.

Weekly Service is $265 (averaged)

10 year old home

Weekly Cleaning with Carpets & Windows 2X/yr., Pest Control monthly, Outdoor Pressure Washing 2X/yr., Two cars washed/detailed 12X/yr.

$310,000 Annual Income

Single Income

2 Children—16 or older

2 dogs

4 cars

Business Owners, Lawyers, Doctors, Executives, Old Wealth

2 Additional Homes

Travel 8 weeks per year

Pay by Credit Card (pays 6 months in advance)

52% are Gold Plan Service Clients (Silver, Gold, Platinum)

24% are Platinum Plan Service Clients

Phone Estimate

Uses 6.5 Affiliate Services per Year—painter, landscaping, lawn service, pest control, carpets, party servers/bartenders/valet parkers, and home theater or computer tech support services most commonly used

Refers 3 or less new Clients per year

Provides team members $500 Holiday Cash Bonuses annually

Residential Cleaning Service Owner loves this and only hopes to improve this Dream Client by:

1. Pay by Credit Card (pays 9 months in advance)
2. 35% are Platinum Plan Service Clients
3. 60% are Gold Plan Service Clients
4. Use 8 Affiliate Services per Year

Redefine Your Brand

Over the next year I want you to seriously consider the first word of this chapter title redefine.  Think about it, did you know, there are residential cleaning companies that focus purely on cleaning churches.  There are cleaning companies that do nothing but cleaning funeral homes out.  About the company, whose tagline is “serving the downtown eight lead.”  How about positioning yourself as home health experts would keep your home clean, sanitized and healthy.  Did you know that there is an SI seek his to describe businesses that refer to themselves as a state cleaning.  We don’t clean homes, we only clean estates.  Now coming from the five-star hotel background myself about this one.  Graceful, elegant, charming company providing turndown service and a minute he services for the affluent homeowner.  In other words, what are your brand, who are you who you trying to serve and wire you in business.

We’ll deal with Nick is in your unique selling proposition in the next chapter.  So for now, I want to focus on the bigger issue of the branding of your company.

Redefining your brand encompasses many factors.  First, wire you in this business?  There are almost as many answers to this question as there are registered owners of residential cleaning companies in America.(24, 164, at last count(.

I love cleaning!  I am in this business to build a great company.  I am in this business to build a great company and by other companies or to start other divisions or other companies.  I am in this business to build it and sell it.  I am in the business to build it and pass it on to my children.  I want to build it and start a franchise.  I want to build my business, and then license the systems I’ve created or create a consulting firm.

Earlier I mentioned briefly, the idea of commodity.  Commodity thinking again has a powerful place here when you think about branding your company.  The commodity minded owner will tend to have the following beliefs:

1.  Timebase labor and pricing.  Exchanging time for money.

2.  Using coupons for nominal amounts such as $10 off the first visit.

3.  Price consciousness versus value orientation.

4.  Doing the work yourself.  Struggling to get out of the employee mentality.

5.  Technician focused, that is, managing the minutia or the details of the day-to-day grad.

6.  Today focused.  Lacking the proactive skill of envisioning this week, next week, next month.

7.  Working harder, not smarter.

The more entrepreneurial, owner will have the following beliefs:

1.  Value based upon results of services, not just time served for my.

2.  Values attraction marketing for pre-qualifying potential new customers.

3.  Services and multiple offers focused.

4.  Values development of passive revenue for the company.

5.  Focused on growing the business.

6.  Tomorrow focused, being proactive rather than reactive.

It is an example of the value minded business owner in residential cleaning.

The value oriented business owner asks they are prospective customers.  The following questions:

if we were able to give you back six hours per week, what would that mean to you?

If your child’s toys for sanitized every week, will that do for you?

When we win your trust over time and you believe are cleaning crew, what would that mean to you?

What are your top three reasons for contracting a cleaning service today?

Revisit your business plan, as it relates to your brand.

Is my goal for being in business still clear?

Am I laser focused on how to make money?

Am I crystal-clear on my target customers?

Am I maximizing profit potential from every customer based upon my brand?

Am I leveraging every current customer for referrals for new business?

Am I exhausted, risking burnout, working harder rather than smarter?