Given that so many HOs end up unhappy with cleanliness and tidiness during sits, I wonder whether THS might create a new line of revenue by offering a cleaning service — say partner with such companies for referrals and commissions.
Cleaning services are affordable compared with pet care of various lengths. And you’d be more likely to end up satisfied overall as a HO. I’d bet that many folks are fine pet carers, but are possibly less good at being clean and tidy.
Personally, I get high marks for leaving homes clean as a sitter, but I’d be willing to pay someone to do it in certain cases, like if I didn’t have time for some reason. And if I had frustrating hosting experiences, it would seem less aggravating to just pay for cleaning.
They’d set up affiliate relationships with various providers that already exist. Such models exist in various industries. It’s not something users would sort out. Companies that do this typically have a partnerships person or team. The commissions pay for their salaries and such, and more. That’s why it could potentially be a revenue stream.
If I were THS and wanted to explore this, I’d start beta testing in a market like the U.S., which is large, mature and potentially lucrative. Like Merry Maids is a national chain they could easily plug into. It’s not even necessarily something to bother with in small markets, because the ROI would probably be low.
Alternatively, THS could place ads or selectively push it via email.
It wouldn’t be for everyone, of course. Potentially good for HOs who aren’t happy with sitter cleaning. That probably costs THS members / revenue. If they wanted to explore it, it would be pretty easy to test. They could even integrate it into signups for membership — people could self-select into it. Like yes or no, would you like to receive info about cleaning services before and/or after a sit. Or say someone is about to cancel, they could receive a prompt about whether cleaning is turning them off.
Affiliate partnerships don’t usually involve the affiliate collecting money. That’s because they can’t track what services are provided or such. The provider tracks and pays a commission to the affiliate. It’s super common in many industries. The appeal for potential partners is low lift for additional revenue. And in THS’s case, potential for retention of members who’d otherwise cancel. For users of such services, it would save them extra steps, especially if the partnership were lucrative enough to merit strong integration. That typically happens over time, with lightweight testing first.
Presumably the cost would be the sitter’s on the rationale that it’s their responsibility to return the home to the owner in a condition that is as good as it was at the start of the sit… it would be hard to pull off without the owner’s agreement due to privacy, liability, etc. I doubt it’s a good fit for THS to get involved with.
I think it would be better to have categories of sitters and owners. For example sitters could class themselves as 5 star cleaners, happy to deep clean, or more specialised in pet care and not willing to deep clean.
Owners could say if they wanted a deep clean or not.
I just left a sit where the owners said I didn’t need to clean and I’ve had similar before. Others complained because I forgot to wipe the kitchen table. This cleaning issue can cause so much grief, and I naively thought that the pets were usually the priority.
I got high marks for clean/tidy from almost everyone, but 2 or 3 others were less happy. I always clean and tidy up to the best of my ability with the time I have, but have no ambition to be a 5 star cleaner who leaves the house sparkling. If someone wants that, I need to know it beforehand, because then I won’t pet sit for them.
We have hired cleaners once at the end of a sit where the pups were super high needs and we were too tired to do it. After they finished it took us about an hour to get the last little bits up to our standards.
Most of the HO’s we’ve sat for have actually paid for a cleaner before we arrived and also arrange one for the day we leave which is really appreciated.
The rest of the time we do it.
It’s not required but always appreciated and if we have a cleaner coming in, we go way beyond the extra mile to make sure it’s sparkling for their return.
We once were on a 7-week sit with 6 indoor pets (2 dogs, 4 cats). Beautiful home, but we decided to hire cleaners every fortnight as it was just too much for us, having full-time jobs and being newbie nomads, especially the floors. The HO’s were delighted to come back to a sparkling place, and indicated they might actually go ahead with the cleaners going forward.
As others have said, I’ve had some owners who told me not to worry about cleaning (usually shorter sits) as their priority was that I looked after the pets. However, I take no notice and clean leaving the home in the condition I find it although, as many others say, sometimes better. There should be no need to hire cleaners and I doubt many owners would want people in the home who they haven’t vetted themselves. A couple of owners have had their own cleaners and I’ve been very happy for them to clean while I’m sitting.
Quite obviously cleaning etc. rates very highly with HO and sitters. When we leave the house it is clean and tidy, isn’t that normal? When we arrive back the house should be, and always has been, clean and tidy. I think that is also normal.
We have had many sitters and I’m pleased to say the house has always been as we left it, clean and tidy! That’s what normal people do!!!
Judging from the number of HOs unhappy with cleanliness and tidiness after their sits, I don’t think there is a “normal” for cleanliness or tidiness among a number of sitters. And while you, I (or your sitters) and other sitters might get good reviews for cleaning, that doesn’t acknowledge or solve for those HOs at all.
There will always be exceptions in any situation. I would hazard more than a guess that the vast majority of sitters and house owners are indeed ‘normal’ and leave or present the house clean and tidy. That is ‘normal’! I would suggest that anyone who leaves a house dirty would soon find they don’t get any more sits!!! The word would soon get around. Should someone do so then that should be included in the review. Of course as part of the ‘exception’ rule there are those that even at the level of pristine cleanliness they would still moan!!!
From the POV of THS, if they can maximize the number of sitters, it’s better for revenue. And the problem is avoidable. Some folks might suck at cleaning, but might be perfectly good with pets.
Of course, it is a business after all. That should be understood and anyone who thinks differently is being very naive! As for some might ‘suck’ at cleaning; well what does that mean? Does it mean they don’t clean to a given standard? Just what is that standard, we all have a different idea regarding that. The most important thing, and what this site is about is pet care; that comes first.
Typical standard is at least as good as you found things. But as with everything else, there are exceptions. As for cause, it doesn’t actually matter — if you leave things worse, most HOs wouldn’t be happy. Again, there’s a potential fix for that.
About pet care being No. 1: It is to me and you, but even that’s debatable among folks. Generally, most HOs won’t want a dirty home even if they get good pet care. At least that’s what they often post here.