Taking Care of Your Cleaners

In the world of short-term rentals (STRs), it's easy to fall into purely transactional relationships with vendors. The HVAC stops working, you call a company, they fix it, you pay, and all is well. But over the years, I’ve learned that building a meaningful relationship with my cleaner, in particular, can pay dividends for both my business and personal life.

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When we foster sincere relationships with our cleaners, we gain loyalty, camaraderie, and a willingness to go the extra mile. More importantly, we become better humans by seeing our cleaner as more than just a service provider. They could be a single parent providing for their family, a young person breaking into the STR world, or a fellow business operator striving for excellence.

This mindset shift began for me when my cleaner came to me with a big request. Her son runs a foundation that supports children with terminal cancer, and she asked if he and his team could use one of our properties for a weekend, for free. Initially, I struggled with the idea, especially since it was during the shoulder season.

After discussing it with my wife, we agreed to let them use the property. It felt good to support such a noble cause, and it strengthened our relationship with our cleaner. The weekend stay went well, and our cleaner was incredibly grateful.

From that point on, I made an effort to get to know my cleaner on a personal level. I met her for breakfast, listened to her pain points, and asked how we could better support her. We walked away with a deeper understanding of each other. I was no longer just the property owner, and she was no longer just the person who cleaned. We shared the joy of positive guest reviews and the frustration when things went wrong.

We now give frequent bonuses, buy gifts for her daughter’s birthday, and brag about her to our guests. In fact, our guidebook includes a page about her, complete with her photo and a bit of her story. Some guests have even left her tips! We’ve become her favorite client, and she goes above and beyond for us. She’s a real person to us, with her own stress and struggles, and we love supporting her however we can.

I realize that this may not be possible for everyone, especially those who use different cleaners through services like Turno. But if you work with the same cleaner regularly, I highly recommend taking the time to get to know them, take care of them, and support them however you can.

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