MaidBossPro Blog — Team App

Automatic On-the-Way and Arrived Texts From the Cleaning Team's Phone

“What time is the team coming today?” is the most common text a cleaning office gets. It is a fair question. The customer wants to put the dog away, clear the counters, or leave for work knowing someone will be there. Answering it by hand, five times a morning, is where an owner's day goes. Automatic texts answer it before it is asked.

Texts That Follow the Route

Photos make the work visible after the fact, as covered in Before-and-After Photos From the Cleaning Team App. Texts make the visit visible while it is happening.

As the team moves down its list, MaidBossPro sends automatic “on the way” and “arrived” texts to customers who want them. The team does not type anything or use their own phone number. They work the route the way they always do, and the customer hears from the company at the right moments.

Alerts the Customer Chooses

Customers pick the alerts they want:

• The night before. A reminder that the cleaning is tomorrow, so nobody is surprised. Good for clearing clutter, opening a side gate or leaving the key out.
• When they're next. The team is heading to this home now. Time to put the dog in the laundry room or head out the door.
• When the team arrives. The team is at the home. Customers at work like knowing the house is not empty and the team got in.

Some customers want all three. Some want only the night-before reminder. Some want nothing at all. Letting the customer choose keeps the texts welcome rather than noisy.

The Live Map Adds the Detail

For customers who want more than a text, the customer app shows a live route map: “You're stop 12 of 20 — the crew is 5 stops away.” Team GPS feeds that map, so the customer can see the team getting closer without calling anyone.

For cleaning, where each stop takes hours, the map is most useful early in the day, when a customer is deciding whether to wait or leave. Combined with a when-they're-next text, it answers “what time?” better than any estimate the office could give over the phone.

Replies Go to the Office

Customers reply to texts. “Can you skip the guest room today?” “Key is under the mat instead.” “Running late, please wait 10 minutes.” Those replies come back to the office through two-way texting, not to a cleaner's personal phone.

That is better for everyone. Cleaners do not hand out their personal numbers. The office sees every message in one place and can pass along anything urgent to the team. And the conversation stays with the company, so a customer's history does not leave when a cleaner does. For more on keeping work and personal phones apart, see Shared Team Phones or Personal Phones: Setting Up the Cleaning Team App Either Way.

What Customers Notice

Automatic texts change how customers feel about the service in small ways:

• Fewer awkward arrivals. The customer is not in a towel when the team walks in.
• Dogs are put away. A when-they're-next text gives time to crate the dog.
• Counters are clear. The night-before reminder gets dishes and mail off the counters.
• Peace of mind at work. The arrived text tells a customer at the office that the team made it in.

None of this needs a cleaner to do anything extra. It comes from tapping through the day normally.

It also helps when a day runs long. If a deep clean in the morning pushes everything back an hour, the customers later on the route are not left guessing. Their when-they're-next text simply arrives later, and the live map shows the team still at an earlier stop. The office can add a short personal text to anyone with a tight schedule, but most customers never need one.

Text Allowance and Message Length

Texting is billed in segments. Every MaidBossPro plan includes a monthly text allowance: 500 segments on Start, 1,000 on Pro and 2,000 on Crew, counting messages sent and received. Short, plain alerts use the fewest segments. Texting is available for customers in the US and Canada.

A night-before reminder and an arrived text for each recurring customer, plus replies, is the main use for most cleaning companies. If you add on-the-way texts for every home, keep an eye on the allowance during your first month.

Let the Route Do the Talking

Automatic texts turn the team's normal route into updates the customer actually wants, without a single extra tap. The office phone gets quieter, and customers start the clean already prepared. To see how texts fit with the rest of the team's phone, visit the MaidBossPro maid service app page.