By Kevin Hogencamp, Contributing Writer
Joan Refosco, vice president of sales for Arthur Rutenberg Homes, had a longstanding, nagging dilemma: Keeping the company’s model home and design studio clean.
Then, this fall, Peggy Collins dropped by to see her on a cold call.
It was a cold call.
“She told me what she could do and gave me a quote, and I was sure it was too good to be true,” Refosco says.
It wasn’t.
Refosco said Collins’ startup company, Polished Properties, is just what the building industry needs: someone who specializes in cleaning and maintaining model and inventory homes.
“We always had someone clean who also did the initial construction cleanup, but that never worked,” she said. “They are used to dealing with big dirt and don’t see the little things.”
That’s Polished Properties’ niche.
Fingerprints behind the door handle. Smudges on a window or light switch. Dust on the dishware in the dining room.
Collins’ cleaning crews also artistically stripe the carpet with the vacuum cleaner and are trained to put things back where they belong.
“And fold the toilet paper just right — customers love that,” Collins said
Even the scent matters.
“Either the builder has paid a designer to add a scent or wants a ‘new-home’ scent,’” Collins said. “It’s important with scents to talk to your customer and know your customer’s preferences. Inventory homes are different. Sometimes customers do want a clean scent.”
Collins conceived of Polished Properties in early 2015 and started the business a few months later after conducting research, joining real estate and construction trade associations, and building relationships.
“There’s so much to learn when you start a company, especially when it comes to marketing,” she said. “This industry has some awesome, charitable people, which has made it really fun.”
She says she got the idea from a friend in another area of the country with a similar venture.
After more than 20 years in the transportation field, Collins was ready for a change.
“As it turns out, without really realizing it, I had been preparing my whole career to start a company,” the Atlantic Beach resident said.
Still, it wasn’t easy — especially in the beginning.
“I have a ton of contacts in transportation, but this is a different industry, so it was starting at Ground Zero,” she said.
When she calls on new customers, Collins says she’s careful to keep the conversation light.
She also offers to review the model home’s condition to provide a report.
“I’ve found it to be effective if you present yourself and your service as an option for adding capacity as they grow,” she said.
Part of her marketing plan also was coming up with a unique designation.
Under her name on her customized name badge is the title, “White Glove Wizard.”
“I wanted to make it fun. You look at LinkedIn or any place and see so many cool titles like ‘Chief Happiness Officer.’ That’s how I came up with it,” she said.
Collins hires her cleaning crews as subcontractors; she has teams in Duval, St. Johns, Clay and Nassau counties.
She says in addition to ensuring she communicates well with customers, she relies heavily on checklists and audits the homes’ condition — during the daytime.
“Cleaners usually work at night without natural sunlight,” she said. “When you walk through in the daylight, you see things differently.”
But Collins says customers who want her to double as a construction cleanup service are out of luck.
“There have been some opportunities lost because the customer wanted construction clean, too. I said I can’t do that; that’s a different skill set that requires different (cleaning) teams,” she said.
Still, keeping model homes spiffy is much different than residential housecleaning, she says.
“I choose (cleaning crew members) who do not have a residential background and do not have a construction background because it’s easier to train someone on what you would like them to do, rather than what they have done,” she said.
Refosco, who is marketing home sites in the master-planned community of Palencia in northern St. Johns County, says maintaining a pristine model home and design studio is especially imperative in the luxury market.
“It’s our showroom; it’s our store,” she said.
In addition to Collins’ attention to detail, Refosco says she’s impressed with her follow-through.
And her price.
“I was expecting her to price to be much, much more. She’s well within my budget,” she said.