Should I ask a new client or wait until the third visit?

Wait for the third. After one visit a client has only seen that you can clean once. By the third they have stopped inspecting, and that shift is what a prospective client wants to hear about. A first-clean request tends to come back as a polite "looks great."

Will clients mind me asking, since they pay for the service?

Most are glad to be asked, particularly the ones who have been happy for months and never said so. Keep the ask to one message and skip the follow-ups. If a client ignores it, leave it alone, and the working relationship is untouched.

Can a testimonial mention my crew by first name?

Yes, and it helps. Clients trust the person who lets herself in, not the company name. Just check with the crew member first, since their name will be on a public page beside a client's remark.

What if a client's home is private and they do not want to be named?

Initials and a job description work fine: "K.T., dental office manager." Nothing about the address or the layout of the home needs to be included.

cleaning services

Testimonials for cleaning services

Make handing a stranger their keys feel normal.

You are asking people to let strangers into an empty house. Nothing closes that gap like a dozen clients saying they came home to it done properly.

Right below is the text I would send a client, ready to copy.

Start freeNo card needed. Cancel whenever.

A text you can send

The text I would send after a good job

The afternoon of the third visit, once the house has been left in their care.

Hi Nadia, it's Joanne from Harbor Lane Cleaning. Our crew finished at your place around two. If you have a few minutes, could you type out what made you comfortable leaving the key with us? I post those on our site for people who are nervous about the same thing. It needs no account: [your link]

Swap in your own names. The link comes from your dashboard.

Cleaning service testimonial examples

The kind of thing cleaning services collect with Exalted. Each one is invented and labelled as an example.

Example

Same two people every week, which matters more than I expected. I stopped tidying before they arrive about a month in. That is the highest praise I have.

Sofia L. · Working parent

Example

I was sure a move-out clean meant losing part of my deposit anyway. They took the oven racks out and did the tracks on the sliding door, and the landlord walked through in ten minutes with nothing to say.

Keisha M. · Renter

Example

My mother is eighty-one and does not like anyone in her kitchen. Six months in, she leaves the kettle out for them and asks after the cleaner's daughter by name.

Renata P. · Daughter of a client

Example

They noticed the bathroom fan was dripping and left a note on the counter instead of just wiping it up. I had a plumber out that week.

Gus H. · Homeowner

A reader deciding whether to give a stranger a key is hunting for proof of attention. The kettle and the note about the fan are things a person only mentions if they were paying attention at home. A line like "reliable and thorough" gives that reader nothing to hold.

How it works

1
Share one link
You get a single link. Send it by text or email to a client whose work went well.
2
They write it, in a minute
No account and no app to download. They rate you and write a couple of lines.
3
You approve what appears
Nothing is public until you say so. Approve the good ones and they appear on your website automatically.

When to ask

After the second or third visit, once they have stopped checking your work.

The single biggest reason cleaning services have no testimonials is that nobody asks while the work is still fresh, not that clients are unwilling.

Questions that get a real answer

“Please leave a review” produces “great service”, which persuades nobody. Ask something specific instead:

What made you comfortable giving us a key?
What do we do that the last service didn't?
What do you notice first when you get home?

Or an email

For an office manager or a landlord who books you for a whole building.

Subject: Your lobby, and one small favor

Hi Pat,

The waiting room carpet is done and the back hallway floors have been mopped, so the Tuesday crew is now on the full schedule for Kessler Dental.

When you get a chance, could you describe what a normal Wednesday morning looks like now compared with before we started? Other office managers who read our page mostly want to know whether anyone has to chase us.

You can send it through here without logging in to anything: [your link]

Best, Joanne

Swap in your own names and the details of the job. The link comes from your dashboard.

Where people check a cleaning service first

Google Business Profile
The first result for "house cleaner near me" is a map with stars. A cleaner with a dozen recent reviews mentioning the same crew usually gets the first call.
Facebook community groups
New parents and people who just moved ask for a cleaner there weekly. The replies are mostly names, and a name that appears with a story attached wins.
Nextdoor
Neighbors trust a cleaner who already has a key to the house down the street. A recommendation from one street over settles more than an ad does.
Thumbtack and Yelp
Used by people booking a one-off deep clean before guests or after a move, when there is no relationship to lean on and the past-client reviews do the work.
Your own website
A client who leaves the kettle out for the crew is worth more on this page than a list of services. Quotes from regulars there stay put whatever happens on other sites.

Questions cleaning services ask

Should I ask a new client or wait until the third visit?: Wait for the third. After one visit a client has only seen that you can clean once. By the third they have stopped inspecting, and that shift is what a prospective client wants to hear about. A first-clean request tends to come back as a polite "looks great."
Will clients mind me asking, since they pay for the service?: Most are glad to be asked, particularly the ones who have been happy for months and never said so. Keep the ask to one message and skip the follow-ups. If a client ignores it, leave it alone, and the working relationship is untouched.
Can a testimonial mention my crew by first name?: Yes, and it helps. Clients trust the person who lets herself in, not the company name. Just check with the crew member first, since their name will be on a public page beside a client's remark.
What if a client's home is private and they do not want to be named?: Initials and a job description work fine: "K.T., dental office manager." Nothing about the address or the layout of the home needs to be included.

Every testimonial Exalted publishes is written by a real person and approved by the business owner.

Your reputation, as a ladder

Each approved testimonial moves you up a tier, so you have a reason to keep asking. Visitors see the tier and know how established you are.

Friendly1+ approved

Honored5+ approved

Revered15+ approved

Exalted30+ approved

Pricing

Starter is $9 a month or $85 a year. Pro is $19 a month or $180 a year. Both are free until your fifth testimonial, and neither asks for a card to begin.

See what is in each plan

Worth reading before you ask

More on the blog. If you ask for Google reviews too, the free Google review link generator and the review request templates need no account. If you want a client quote as a picture to post, I made a free testimonial image maker.

Start collecting this week

Set up a link in about five minutes and send it to the last client who thanked you.

Start free