George Boutsalis

Granola and Wispr for sure hate each other…

The first thing a client asked me to do after we won the cleaning contract for a major sports venue was fire all of the existing cleaners. I convinced them to give me 30 days before we fired anyone. The previous cleaning company had been struggling with the account. The client was frustrated with the service and wanted a fresh start. When we took over, we inherited the existing cleaning team. From the client's perspective, these were the same people who had been responsible for the problems in the first place. I understood why they wanted to replace everyone, but I wasn't convinced the cleaners were the problem. Before making that kind of decision, I wanted to see what would happen if we gave them better leadership, proper training, and the tools they needed to do their jobs. So we kept most of the team. We replaced two or three supervisors, worked on training the cleaners, and changed some of the processes and equipment they were using. The number of complaints dropped dramatically. And the people doing the cleaning were largely the same people the client had wanted us to fire. We went on to service that venue from 2015 to 2020. That experience has stayed with me because I've seen how quickly people can get blamed for problems that start with how they're being managed. When an entire team is underperforming, I want to understand what's happening around them before deciding they need to be replaced. Are they being trained properly? Do they have the right equipment? Are their supervisors setting clear expectations and following up on the work? Sometimes you do need to make personnel changes. We made a few on that account. But if we'd followed the client's original request, 50 to 60 people could have lost their jobs without us ever finding out whether they were capable of doing better. I'm glad we gave them that chance.

One new property manager can put a cleaning contract worth hundreds of thousands of dollars at risk, even if you've delivered great service for years. It's something you learn pretty quickly when you run a commercial cleaning business. We can spend a decade servicing a property, building trust with the people who manage it, and making sure our teams are delivering what we promised. Over time, the property manager gets to know our company. They know our operations team, how we handle problems, and what they can expect from us. Then that property manager leaves. Someone new takes over, and suddenly the relationship you've spent years building doesn't carry the same weight. The new manager might have a cleaning company they've worked with before. They might want to review all their existing contracts. Or they might simply have different expectations for the property. You could be doing everything right operationally and still find yourself competing to keep the business. I've learned that you can't assume a new decision-maker will see your company the same way their predecessor did. You have to spend time getting to know them, understand what matters to them, and give them a chance to see how your team operates. That might mean walking the property together, reviewing how the account is performing, or addressing concerns that weren't priorities for the previous manager. And you need to have those conversations before the contract comes up for renewal. We've spent years building relationships with some of our clients, and I value those relationships enormously. But I've also learned that the people responsible for making these decisions can change. When they do, I want the new person to have just as much confidence in our company as the person who hired us. Because years of good service should give you a strong case for keeping a contract, but you still have to make that case to the person making the decision.

At the moment of commitment the entire universe conspires to assist you

Hope you have a great day. Go get after it!

This is cool! Brewers or Rays about to move into a new venn soon.

Trader Joes cherry shortbread cookies are insane. Maybe the best cookie I’ve ever had in my life.

I'm willing to lose cleaning contracts worth 6 and 7-figures a year over how a client treats our cleaners. We've dealt with plenty of difficult clients over the years. Thankfully today it's not as common and we have really great clients. But there's still one principle I will never waiver on, regardless of how valuable the contract is I won't take money in exchange for our cleaners having a bad working environment. If someone is rude or disrespectful towards me, I don't get worked up over it. I'm the business owner, and dealing with difficult people comes with the job. But when someone treats one of our cleaners that way, it's different. I can speak up without worrying about losing my job. A cleaner might not feel like they have that luxury. They might worry the client will complain, that we'll take the client's side, or that speaking up could cost them a job they depend on. Unfortunately, we've had situations in the past when clients have treated our cleaners with very little respect. When that happens, we make sure we understand what occurred. If the concern is legitimate, we'll speak directly with the person involved or go to someone more senior in the client's organization to address the issue. We've done this on contracts worth close to a million dollars a year, knowing we could lose the business by speaking up. I started out in this business as a cleaner so I know how demanding and thankless the work is, and how easily the people doing it can be overlooked. If I'm willing to stand up for myself when a client crosses a line, I should be willing to do the same for our cleaners. Even if it costs us the contract.

Fastest way to figure out who someone really is, despite what they tell you: Look at their calendar. Look at their friends. Look at how they spend their money.

Easy ways to earn respect: Under promise, over deliver. Be strict with yourself, forgiving of others. Stand by your word. Don’t gossip. Ask more questions.

Fear makes smart people do dumb things. Be careful with any decision you made while you were scared, because fear is a terrible advisor.

You don't get to the good idea without wading through a pile of bad ones first. Bad ideas aren't failure. They're the cost of finding the good one.

Some leaders are afraid that if they train people, those people will leave. The better move is to train them anyway and give them a reason to stay. The best teams are full of people who could leave at any time and choose not to.

We lost a client at our cleaning company and it took us seven years to win them back. Here's what we did in the meantime. I've lost plenty of contracts over the years. Some because of price, others because a new decision-maker came in with an existing relationship. Sometimes you can do everything right and still lose the business. It's frustrating, especially when you've spent years building the account. But one thing I've always told our team is that losing a contract doesn't give us an excuse to change how we treat the client. We show up, do our jobs, and deliver the same level of service right up until our last day. And once the contract ends, they don't go from client to ex-client, they go from client to future client. We'll check in occasionally, stop by around the holidays, and maintain the relationships we've spent years building. We're not pestering anyone or constantly asking for another chance. We just make sure they know we're still around. In commercial cleaning, large contracts often go back out to tender every few years. Sometimes sooner if the new provider isn't delivering. So even when we lose an account, I know there's a high chance we'll have another opportunity in the near future. We've won contracts back after one year, three years, and even seven. I don't know many business owners who enjoy losing clients. I certainly don't. But I've seen what happens when owners get angry, take the decision personally, and burn relationships on their way out. Seven years is a long time to wait for another opportunity. But building a great business is a long game. I'm glad we didn't give that client a reason to stop considering us.

I don’t know what it was that changed my mentality but I don’t think I’ve been this disciplined with my health and fitness since I was in my early 20s. In the early innings of this long game but it feels damn good to be stepping up to the plate daily.

Can hit Coleman on a slant in the end zone when the games on the line can’t hit him on 4th and 2 (you tuck an run)m into a wall) when a guy a foot smaller than him is covering him. Just throw the ball to Coleman man.

Though I think 24 team playoff is a joke it’s probably the only way I’ll see Texas make the playoffs next year…

What a frickin phony Texas team. These guys had 1 memorable quarter all season. What a joke.