TRAINING TRAINING TRAINING...

It's all very well recruiting potentially great people but if you don't have a well thought out induction and training programme then they'll never be the amazing team you deserve.

With three new team members joining the Freshly Maid team since August, its been a busy time for us helping them settle into their new roles and our two week induction and training programme is key to their success or failure as members of our team. We have found that you can quite easily teach people to clean the 'Freshly Maid' way, but you can't teach attention to detail. They either have it or they don't. They either care enough to do a great job every time, or they don't.

"People are definitely a company's greatest asset. It doesn't make any difference whether the product is cars or cosmetics. A company is only as good as the people it keeps." Mary Kay Ash

Because we believe that a great attitude is worth far more than experience or qualifications, we are also offering all our team members the chance to join our new management training programme. They will learn IT, client care, sales, networking and team management skills in a structured programme designed to help them develop as individuals and as a team. We hope to not only have some fantastic people to help us grow our business but also to support them in their future goals.

Here's to our amazing team!

Best Wishes from

Diane at Freshly Maid

www.freshlymaid.co.uk

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WHAT A BUSY SUMMER!

With a new baby, a promotion, a new team member, a holiday without my mobile and a parachute jump, Freshly Maid has had a lovely busy Summer so far!

Wetherby Branch Manager Johanne gave birth to her beautiful daughter Maddison Violet on Friday August 5th, much to everyone's delight. I’m sure they will already be making good use of the lovely moses basket and baby carrier the team clubbed together to buy.

Debs has stepped up to provide maternity cover for Johanne. She is managing brilliantly so far and with her background in team management and customer service we are confident she will help us improve as we grow.

In July I had two weeks on holiday without my mobile phone and Adele, Johanne and Debs managed brilliantly without me. I even came back to learn we had a new member of the cleaning team, Alison, who is already receiving great customer feedback!

And our lovely Tadcaster Branch Manager Adele is preparing to jump out of a plane for Cancer Research – we always suspected she was nuts! She will take part in a tandem parachute jump this August and is hoping to raise lots of money for the charity. You can sponsor her at ww.justgiving.com/g-g-joyce

What a great Summer it's been and the Autumn won't be any different I'm sure with a new management training programme planned and new recruits already in progress!

Best Wishes

Diane Greenwood

General Manager

www.freshlymaid.co.uk

NOW WE ARE TWO!

Freshly Maid is now officially a business of two amazing teams......

The brand new Tadcaster branch and relaunched Wetherby branch were officially declared open by our newly promoted Branch Managers Adele Bradley and Johanne Lickers.

We celebrated with a little bucks fizz and some cake for breakfast and are pleased to say that the two teams are so far working brilliantly and Adele and Johanne are doing a fab job of managing their respective branches.

See our website for more news and photos ..... www.freshlymaid.co.uk

AND THE TEAM GROWS ON....

With three fantastic Freshly Maids joining us already this year in June, Lynsay and Christine, we're continuing our steady growth and commitment to our business and our customers.

Not only have we increased our cleaning team but we are also developing our people. Johanne Lickers and Adele Bradley have recently stepped up to become Branch Managers and following their training they will be managing their own teams and looking after our clients to ensure that as we continue to grow we ensure we delight all our clients and retain our lovely team of Freshly Maids.

Watch this space for news of our brand new Tadcaster branch due to open on Monday 9th May!!

Best Wishes

Diane @ Freshly Maid

www.freshlymaid.co.uk

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRESHLY MAID...

It's our third birthday this month!!!

Hard to believe it’s been three years already and we’ve come such a long way in such a short time!

The Freshly Maid ladies have been delivering cakes over the past two weeks so our lovely clients can join the celebration with us. We've had some funny looks at the lockup though with boxes and boxes of cakes being delivered!

Thanks to all our clients, team and friends for their best wishes and support over the past three years and here's to many more fantastic years to come.

Diane @ Freshly Maid

www.freshlymaid.co.uk

FRESHLY MAID SHORTLISTED IN ACKRILL BUSINESS AWARDS 2011!

We are all very excited to learn we have been shortlisted for an award in the medium sized business category of the Ackrill Business Awards. We are batting well above our weight as there are some pretty big businesses in our category so we are thrilled to have made the shortlist. On Tuesday next week the team will be posing for what we hope will be some great photographs that will go in the newspaper and that will be shown on the big screen at the awards dinner in Harrogate in March. Its also a good excuse for me to buy a great frock so I can look glamorous at the awards dinner and although I won't tempt fate by writing an acceptance speech, I will have my fingers well and truly crossed! Best Wishes Diane www.freshlymaid.co.uk

Freshly Maid superstar wins weekend away!

Our annual rewards competition was a close run thing this year with Joy, Adele and June all giving the winner a run for her money, but I was very proud at our Christmas party to announce that our lovely Linda Hammond had received the most customer reward points throughout 2010.

Not only had she already won several boxes of chocolates and numerous bottles of wine throughout the year for her efforts, but she was also the winner of our annual prize of a Valentines weekend for two in the Lake District. I know the rest of the team weren't at all surprised, as Linda is not only a star with clients but is always willing to lend a hand to her co-workers too.

All our girls work very hard every day. Cleaning isn't the easiest of jobs because you are always balancing getting as much done as possible with making sure its done to a high standard and at the end of some days the team are ready for nothing more than a cup of tea and a sofa!

Feedback is incredibly important to us as it helps us improve but also helps us stay motivated and happy in our work. We encourage all our clients to call, email, text or leave a note to let us know their thoughts. Its often easier to complain than praise nowadays but we are lucky in that our clients take the time to send thank you's throughout the year and are constructive in their feedback also.

Diane @ www.freshlymaid.co.uk

Resolve to have a Freshly Maid Home!

Its that awful time of year when we all make our New Year resolutions that we'll more than likely have given up on by Valentines day.

But this year everyone can make one resolution they don't even have to keep themselves...

A new year spring clean is a great start to the year and a tidy, clutter free home can really be a tonic to get you motivated to do other things. Write that book, actually go to the gym, start a new business.

And of course having a regular cleaning and/or ironing service can free up hours of your life that can be far more productively spent elsewhere.

More and more people are valuing their time and realise that if they find someone reliable to help with household chores, then they can spend their free time doing things they enjoy or that add value to their lives.

Make 2011 the year you resolve to give yourself the gift of free time!

Happy New Year

Diane @ www.freshlymaid.co.uk