The first visit with a new cleaning client
A longer first clean, a walk-through of the home, agreeing what matters: how housekeepers can set up the first visit online and turn it into regular work.
6 min read
Make the first visit its own service, longer than a regular clean, and ask the client to be home for the first few minutes. You'll walk through the home together, agree on priorities and products, and then do a first deep clean that brings everything to a level you can keep up with in regular visits. New clients book this service online; once it's done, you book their regular visits yourself on a fixed day and time.
Why the first clean takes longer
A home that hasn't been cleaned by a professional before, or not for a while, needs more than a regular visit: limescale in the bathroom, grease on the hob, dust on top of cupboards. If you try to fit that into a two-hour regular slot, either you overrun or the client is disappointed. A longer first visit sets the baseline, and every regular visit after that is maintenance.
| Service | Example slot | Example price | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| First visit and deep clean, flat | 3 h | €90 | Walk-through with you, then a thorough clean |
| First visit and deep clean, house | 4 h 30 | €135 | Same, for larger homes |
| End-of-tenancy clean | 5 h | €160 | Empty home, all rooms, inside cupboards |
| Regular clean | 2 h | €50 | Booked by you after the first visit |
Lengths and prices are examples: set your own. On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page, and each slot belongs to one service with its own start and end. Clients who pick a first-visit service only see slots of that length.
What to ask before you come
The public booking form asks for first name, last name, email and phone, all required, and has an optional note. In your first-visit description, suggest what to write:
- address, floor, access and parking;
- size of the home: rooms, bathrooms, stairs;
- pets in the home;
- whether you should bring products and equipment, or use theirs;
- anything that matters most: the kitchen, the bathroom, the floors.
You get the note in your new-booking email. If the home is much larger than the slot allows, call the client before the visit and move them to a longer slot.
The walk-through
Spend the first minutes going round the home with the client. Ask what they care about most, what not to touch, which products suit which surfaces, and where to leave keys when they're out in future. Write down the answers: they become your checklist for every regular visit. Say in the description that the client should be home at the start of the first visit.
From first visit to regular client
At the end of the first visit, agree on a rhythm: weekly, fortnightly, or just seasonal deep cleans. Then set up the regular slot on the agreed weekday, repeated until an end date, and book the client into it from your calendar. First and last name are required, email and phone optional; if you enter the email, they get a confirmation and a calendar file for each visit. Add a short practical note, such as "eco products only, cat stays in".
Not every first visit turns into regular work, and that's fine: some clients just want a one-off deep clean before a move or a visit. Keep a one-off service on your page for them.
Keys and trust
Keep keys, key boxes and alarm codes out of the booking note, since it appears in the calendar file the client receives: agree on them in person during the first visit. Book doesn't take payments, so say how you're paid. Clients can't move bookings online; they contact you, and you move or cancel from your bookings list, then confirm the new time yourself. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.