My Biz: Merry Maids franchise owner trains employees to be leaders

CEDAR RAPIDS — Marty Smith knew he had some challenges when he bought the local Merry Maids business in June of 2013.

'We knew right off we had a lot of work to do to change the culture that would take the business from being a competent cleaning business to the number one choice for consumers,' he said.

'Our customers are looking for a thorough and caring company to clean their homes,' Smith added, 'and great cleaning comes from well-trained, motivated employees who take ownership in keeping the customers' homes maintained.'

It was Smith's own long-standing employment history and confidence in the corporate philosophy behind Merry Maids, however, that helped seal the deal and make Merry Maids a 'great place to work and a great service to buy.'

Merry Maids is one of six companies within the ServiceMaster® family of companies that operates under four main objectives that date back to when the parent company was founded in 1929.

'They haven't wavered for 85 years,' said Smith. 'We operate under a philosophy that 'if you don't live it, you don't believe it.'

'Our objectives are not words on a wall; they are the foundation for how we hire, train and motivate our employees and how we serve our customers.'

The objectives are concise: Honor God in all we do. Help people develop. Excel with customers, and grow profitably.

'Those four objectives are the reasons why I wanted to be part of this organization,' he said.

The key to rejuvenating the business required establishing new expectations when hiring the right employees, he said. Expectations at work, goals and rewards for performance played key roles in the new process.

'We sought out service-focused, detail-oriented individuals, and we managed them to meet and exceed our customers' expectations,' he said.

'If you perform, we will reward you,' became the company's new mantra, and they put their money where their mouth is by increasing their minimum wage rate this past July, from $7.25 an hour to $10 an hour.

'We changed the internal culture of the business with the people we hired, and we pressed upon them to deliver customer service. It's not me in front of that customer every day. It's them. They are Merry Maids to that customer.'

'The cleaning business isn't always gracious work, so it can be difficult to find that employee who will commit to that,' he said. 'It is the person who believes in and is self-rewarded through good customer service.'

To the outside world, it might appear that Merry Maids is simply about providing residential cleaning services, but there is considerably more to it than spotless windows and clean floors for the client.

'We see our job as leaders at Merry Maids,' Smith said. 'As business owners and managers our goal is to develop people, and we do that through delivering the service of home cleaning.'

Smith said he is always on the lookout for the next general manager of his business.

'There are many success stories of team members that started cleaning — even part-time — that have become business owners in their career with Merry Maids, and that has always been the exciting piece to the value of this company,' he added.

AT A GLANCE

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