Cleaning Doctor franchise owners provide customers with an extensive range of cleaning services for both inside and outside a property. Nigel Lay has been Cleaning Doctor’s Northampton franchise owner for more than a decade and specialises in carpet and upholstery services.

Cleaning Doctor franchise owners provide customers with an extensive range of cleaning services for both inside and outside a property. Nigel Lay has been Cleaning Doctor’s Northampton franchise owner for more than a decade and specialises in carpet and upholstery services.

7:30am I usually start my day with tea and toast before checking if any emails have arrived overnight and need attention.

8:15am I ensure I have the relevant Healthy Home Check quotation forms and all the necessary equipment and chemicals in my van for the day’s workload. What I love about being a Cleaning Doctor franchise owner is that no two days are ever the same. However, as a result it is essential that I make sure everything is in order before I leave.

8:30am Head to my first appointment – most domestic properties require a start time when the school run ends at 9am. I aim to arrive 15 minutes early so I can distribute leaflets to neighbouring houses, whose residents will be able to see my van for a few hours. This gives me an excellent opportunity to promote my business and will generally prompt a call or two.

9:15am I conduct a pre-clean audit with my client to make sure that any problem areas previously identified when I issued my quote are attended to during the clean. This morning I have a three-piece suite and lounge carpet to attend to. I endeavour to clean suites in the mornings so they are dry by the time the family needs them in the evening

11:00am I have a 10 minute break with the client for tea. It is important to build a rapport with my clients to establish if there are any further cleaning requirements for them or possibly relatives or colleagues. A lot of my work comes via this method or referrals.

11:45am Finish off the suite and set up the air movers to assist drying times. Once the soiled arms and head areas have been returned to pristine condition, I start on the lounge carpet.

1:00pm The carpet is now clean, the lustre is back in the fibres and there’s a luxurious bounce to the pile. Before packing my equipment into my van, I ensure the client is completely satisfied with my work by showing her what I have done. While paying me she mentions that her sister also wants my cleaning services.

1:15pm Catch up on telephone messages and have my lunch. One call is from a letting agent who needs me to clean an empty property within the next two days ready for a new tenant arrival. I schedule this in for early tomorrow evening.

2:00pm Complete a prearranged Healthy Home Check and provide a written quotation, which is accepted so I book the job in for next week.

2:30pm Arrive for my second job of the day. This involves cleaning carpets on the stairs, landing and in two bedrooms. The master bedroom also has swag tail curtains, which I am able to clean in situ – much to the householder’s delight. Again I carry out a pre-clean audit before starting the job.

5:00pm Complete a Healthy Home Check at another home and leave the quote for the client to discuss with her husband. This enquiry came from our website, which impressed the client with its detailed content and Cleaning Doctor’s 100 per cent risk free guarantee.

5:30pm Once I have finished another Healthy Home Check – which has come as a referral from an existing client – I head home.

5:45pm I clean my equipment and prepare the van for tomorrow. I then go to my office to check my emails and voicemails, as well as calling the sister of my earlier client. After logging my day’s work on my computer, I have dinner.

Nigel Lay, Cleaning Doctor Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Services, Cleaning Doctor Support Consultant and NCCA Director (Northampton, UK)