12 English messages to answer a client, ready to copy

The text lands at ten in the morning, with your hands in somebody’s kitchen sink. How much do you charge? That’s the whole message. No address, no rooms, no date.

These are the twelve you end up writing over and over in this trade. Plain American English, the kind people actually type into a phone. Copy them, change what’s in brackets, send. And notice something: the first two only exist because your price isn’t written down anywhere. Once it is, on your own page, whoever asks reads it there and you start at number three.

01Price

1. They ask what you charge and give you nothing

Hi! Happy to give you a price. Two quick things: how many bedrooms and how many bathrooms? And is this a one-time deep clean, or something regular like every two weeks?

The move almost nobody makes is right there: you answer with a question instead of a number. You never quote a house you haven’t seen, and whatever you send next is firm.

Two questions, not four. Four reads like a form, and a form is where people stop typing.

2. Now they give you the details

Thanks! For 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms my price starts at $[130]. That covers kitchen, bathrooms, floors, dusting and the trash. Inside the oven or the fridge is extra. Want me to check what I have open this week?

It says what’s in and what’s out, which is where the end-of-day argument usually starts. Then it hands the thread back.

If your own number is still a guess, the long version of that question puts those numbers next to what the big national sites publish.

02The day and the time

3. Locking it in

You’re all set for Thursday the 2nd, between 9 and 10 in the morning. I’ll text you when I’m on my way. If anything changes, just message me the day before.

The one-hour window saves your day. Say “9 o’clock” and one traffic jam makes you late. Say “between 9 and 10” and you’re on time.

4. You can’t do that day

I’m already booked Friday. I can do Saturday morning, or Monday any time after 10. Which one works better for you?

Never a bare no. A no with two doors open, and she picks one. And Saturday is ordinary in this trade, not a favor you’re doing — 21 of the 27 owners with a page here have it on their schedule.

03Two questions worth asking first

5. The pet

One more thing before Thursday: do you have a dog or a cat at home? Pets are no problem for me. I just like to know so nobody slips out the door while I’m working.

If you’d rather the dog stayed put, swap the last line: I just ask that they stay in another room while I clean. Pets are fine on 26 of the 27 pages published here. It’s logistics, not preference, and asking first is what keeps it that way.

6. The first visit runs longer

Just so there are no surprises: the first clean always takes longer. Plan on about [4] hours this time. After that, the same house usually runs [2 to 3].

Send this before, never after. Before, it reads like somebody who knows the work. After, when you’re five hours into a house, the same words read like an excuse.

04“Are you insured?”

The one that stops people cold, and the one that needs the least decoration.

7. Answering when you don’t have insurance

Good question, and I’d rather be straight with you: I don’t carry insurance right now. What I do have is [7] years cleaning homes here, and [customers who have been with me since my first year]. If something of yours gets damaged while I’m working, I take care of it. If insurance is a must for you, I understand completely, no hard feelings.

Three things in there, and each one is doing a job:

• It doesn’t apologize. I don’t carry insurance right now, full stop. An apology turns an ordinary answer into a confession, and people read that through a screen.
• It says what you do have. The years, the customers who stayed, and that you make it right if something breaks.
• It lets the wrong client go, with no drama. Some property managers need the policy in writing and there’s no way around that one. Plenty of houses never bring it up at all.

Liability insurance covers damage or an accident while you’re working. You buy it yourself and you pay every month. Whether it’s worth it depends on who you clean for, and only you know who that is. That one is yours. And if somebody tells you your city requires it, get that answer from someone licensed to give it.

One number from our own house: 17 of the 27 pages here list no registered company at all. That says nothing about insurance. What it does say is how a good part of this trade actually works.

05Getting paid

8. How you want the money

I take cash or Zelle, whichever is easier for you. Payment is the same day, when I finish. If you’re not going to be home, Zelle works great, it’s the same number you’re texting.

Whichever is easier for you carries the whole line: options, not conditions. Everything else about money is four short answers you’ll reuse for years.

If she says	What you send back
“Can I pay you next week?”	Payment is the same day I finish. If this time is different, tell me now and we’ll sort it out.
“I won’t be home that day.”	No problem. Zelle works great, it’s the same number you’re texting.
“Can I get a receipt?”	Of course. I’ll text you a receipt as soon as I’m done.
“Do you take cards?”	Cash or Zelle is what I take, whichever is easier for you.

06Before you get there, and when you’re late

9. Asking them to clear the counters

Small favor before Thursday: if you can clear the kitchen counters and pick up whatever is on the floors, I get to spend that time cleaning instead of moving things around. It makes a real difference in how the house looks when I leave.

Look at who the favor is for. Not you: how the house looks when I leave.

10. You’re running late

Hi [Name], I’m running about 20 minutes behind. On my way now and I’ll still get everything done. Sorry for the wait.

Short, the exact number of minutes, no story attached. The long explanation worries people more than the delay does.

07When they want the price lower

11. The haggle

I hear you. My price is $[130] and that’s what the job takes me. What I can do is [leave the oven out] and bring it to $[110], or come every other week instead of every week. Which sounds better?

One rule, and it doesn’t bend: if the price comes down, the work comes down. A plain discount teaches her your first number was padded.

08When she’s happy

12. Asking for the referral

So glad you’re happy with it! If you know anybody who needs the same, I’d love it if you passed my name along. And if you have two minutes, a few lines about how it went help more than you’d think: [link].

Send it the same day, while she’s still walking around looking at how the place turned out. A week later it’s a chore.

You don’t write that link yourself. A button makes it for you, ready to paste into the message, from the day you have a page of your own.

09Where to keep them

In your phone notes, numbered. Or in a message you send yourself on WhatsApp so it sits at the top of the thread. The text comes in, you open yours, you copy, you change the brackets.

Twenty seconds, and it’s answered well.

Whatever else comes up before you start, somebody already asked it. The answers, one by one.