How Did London Happens Come To Being?

When a small group of like-minded domestic cleaning professionals concluded that there was something wrong with the approach of the companies they worked for, they had a decision to make. They could either go on as if nothing had happened, or they could try to make a change.

We chose the second option and founded London Happens Cleaning as a London-based contractor exclusively providing tenancy cleaning services. But was the problem that we mentioned above? A call from a customer would come in, requiring end of tenancy cleaning help. The customer support team would treat it as a one-off house cleaning job and schedule it as such. In most cases, a disappointed landlord would point to specific blemishes in the performance, which will cause an endless round of recriminations. The conclusion was evident – you could not treat post-tenancy cleaning as something similar to domestic cleaning. We had to recognise the differences in the job’s approach, the cleaning requirements, and the customers’ expectations. Only then could we expect to become an effective and respected contractor.

How Did Our Approach Change?

When a customer books you for a home cleaning job, the relationship is strictly bilateral. However, when you take a move-out cleaning quote, there is a third party in the equation – the landlord/property owner. In fact, it is the landlords who have a much stronger vested interest in the procedure – therefore, we must include them in our calculations.

The second change is about time efficiency. Post-vacancy cleaning is much more difficult, detailed, and time-consuming than a regular home cleaning appointment. Therefore, you cannot expect a single person to do a good job within a set deadline. Experience taught us that task-force crews, usually consisting of three people, work like a well-oiled machine and deliver far better results – in a way, the sum is more than its integral parts.

The third difference was about communication and transparency. Again, we had to forget about the comparisons with regular house cleaning. Customers never care about what or how you clean – they care about the results, i.e. a comfortable and well-ordered home. It is not the case in tenancy cleaning where landlords have specific requirements for a peculiar task (remove the mould from behind the toilet, take care of the grease stains on the stove). Productive and friendly communication is the cornerstone of a successful move-out cleaning job.

Last but arguably most important – quality control. By its nature, tenancy cleaning is a one-off procedure. You do not have the time or the comfort to build a relationship of trust and proven efficiency with your customer (in this case, the landlord). Quality control in the form of check-ups is the easiest way to show the results of your effort and to avoid any misgivings about the procedure.