MOLLY MAID Shine in Local Business Awards

Posted on April 07, 2008 by Bill Dube

Karen Wilkinson and Lee Given business owners of MOLLY MAID Tonbridge, the domestic cleaning professionals, have been awarded the Most Promising New Business Award in the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards 2008. 

At a gala dinner held on Wednesday night all of the finalists eagerly awaited the results from the judges.  All of the entries had submitted a presentation that demonstrated how the business met each of the criteria set out by the Chamber of Commerce, the finalists were visited and interviewed on an individual basis.  These criteria covered every area of the business, starting with a description of the product or service provided, through to the financial validity of the company and their community involvement.  After the awards Karen said “I can’t believe that we have won, I am so delighted.  I have a clear vision about where I want to take the business and to have the recognition from the local business experts that we are running a great business is fantastic.”

Coming up to 2 years ago Karen and Lee started their MOLLY MAID business in the local area.  Karen said “We started researching a domestic cleaning franchise because when searching for some help around the home ourselves we found it hard to find a local cleaning firm that offered flexibility and reliability.  We realised that there was a gap in the local market for a high quality, flexible cleaning service, and discovered MOLLY MAID fitted the bill.”  Since then they haven’t looked back.

When asked what makes MOLLY MAID stand out from any other local cleaning company Karen says that it is both their staff and their customer care.  The MOLLY MAID teams are given a month long training programme that ensures that they can delight the customers day after day.  Each staff member has an employee pack that gives them information and goals to achieve.  “Our incentive scheme and clear promotional structure means that our maids are happy and motivated and this has a positive impact on our customer satisfaction.”  On top of the MOLLY MAID 100 per cent guarantee Karen offers a flexible cleaning schedule, ensures that regular quality checks are carried out, and calls customers on a regular basis to ensure that they are satisfied with their clean.  “Myself and my supervisor have a very personal relationship with our customers, we are going into their homes so we feel it is important that they know us and can call us should they have any problems.”

On the back of this award Karen plans to continue to grow her customer base through increasing her marketing activities and charity involvement locally so that more and more people think of MOLLY MAID when they need some reliable help in the home.