I know what makes a good service. But what does good service mean to you?

Is it as simple as getting what you need from the company you hire? Is it reasonable to expect more when a company leaves you feeling like you haven’t gotten what you asked for?

Of course it is. But it wasn’t always so…

The history of service is largely a private one. Especially when we’re talking about cleaning and gardening, the industries with which I currently have the most intimacy. You didn’t use to go out and find a cleaning company. If you could afford a cleaner, you usually employed them privately. Thousands of home owners of all stripes employed their own staff, many of whom worked in conditions that could best be described as mild-to-hellish drudgery. Little to no pay. Long hours. Few rights of any kind.

Downton Abbey this was not.

A century or so ago that was the general state of play. Almost half of the UK’s population was “in service”. It wasn’t until sometime around the 1930s when this began to change.

And the service industry — thankfully so changed to the form it was in even early last century — has recently undergone another sea change.

The amount of normal people who need to find more time in their increasingly busy lives is on the up. One of the ways to get this time is to hire a cleaner, or a gardener — or some other service — to take over some of the hard work.

Now for me, and anyone else in the industry, this can only be a good thing. More customers — fantastic! But, when you’re trying to make sure you get the best service from all of the options in front of you… what do you do?

Well, there are some simple things to watch out for:

1) Know who you’re hiring and that they’re accountable.

This is pretty simple in theory, but I know I fell afoul of a service just like this before I started Fantastic Services. If you don’t know where the company is coming from (I mean this in part literally -get their address and all the details you can!) you can be left with a service you’re not happy with and no way to resolve the issue.

2) Get your money’s worth.

Service is part of what you’re paying for when you hire. Are you being treated with courtesy and respect? Are your wishes being followed? Do you feel like you paid what was reasonable?

Any company needs to have insurance and offer some guarantee of their quality. Check out their past work if you’re still wondering whether you’ll get your money’s worth.

3) Never feel like you’re left wanting.

You’ve employed someone to do a job for you. Have they done it? Don’t let it quietly slide if they haven’t. Make sure you know what your options are if you’re unhappy with the service you’ve hired.

Like beauty, and all that other good stuff, is “service” in the eye of the beholder?

I don’t think so. I believe there are certain things that define a truly good service.

And when you’re hiring someone in the future, you should always make sure you’re getting it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rune Sovndahl, co-founder of Fantastic Services, has built his domestic services business from scratch to a point where they serve 230,000 domestic clients in London and the South East. With a £28m turnover, it is easily the largest domestic cleaning company in London, yet the company has been self-financed since the outset. As well as the UK, Fantastic Services is already established as a leading cleaning company in Australia and USA.