About Us
Broomstick Cleaning, Then and Now: Affordable Custom Housekeeping With Integrity And A Smile
"I know that who you allow in your home is a very personal decision of significant concern; as it is in mine. I promise that we will always treat serving you as a privilege that must be continually earned."
Liz Volk, President, Owner
Broomstick Cleaning
Our Mission
To enhance our client family’s lives by providing the highest quality, most reliable and personalized custom housekeeping services available.
Our History
Since 1992 Broomstick Cleaning, under the direction and standards of President, owner Liz Volk, has provided quality, custom housekeeping services to the greater Seattle area. In that time, Liz’s sincere personal commitment to each of her clients has resulted in a full book and a 60% retention of her original client base. That’s right, over 60% of the original client roster that started with broomstick 19 years ago are still Broomstick clients today. One size does not fit all. With a clear understanding of the meaning of individualized service, Liz accomplished this remarkable standard by taking a personal interest in the specific needs and desires of each and every client and creating a customized service schedule for each with a detailed list of tasks to be completed on each service day.
You see, from Liz’s perspective, each Broomstick client and employee has always been looked upon as part of her extended family and treated with the respect and commitment that that implies. Both she and her employees have been reliable, flexible, thorough and always committed to doing that little unrequested extra during each service simply because it should be done whether it is part of the routine or not. All of this and more has always been done with a cheery hello, a big smile, and a sincere interest in the well being of the client and their family.
It is on this foundation of quality, integrity and personal commitment that we are now gradually expanding the Broomstick roster of discerning clients; clients who know what they want and have come to allow only the best of the best within the sanctity of their homes.
Our Future
Over the years that Liz successfully operated her small housekeeping business on a very personal level with her clients, she realized that most of them came from referrals that were a result of her new client’s dissatisfaction with their former housekeeping service. Those that were hiring a housekeeping service for the first time had often forestalled hiring service because they were concerned about providing an unknown person or company access to their home. She further came to realize that the majority of cleaning services fell into one of two categories; large franchise operations or individual sole proprietorships. Many had tried the big ones or the small ones, or maybe experienced hiring and then firing a self-employed maid or two, or possibly all of the above. She heard many stories from her clients about the time and energy wasted dealing with their past maid service or cleaning lady…. The unsatisfactory quality of their work, wondering whether they were going to show up, or even answer the phone or, worst of all, whether they could be trusted with the keys to the house!
Liz heard stories about the franchises that seemed to have a different crew of three or four housekeepers every few weeks who rushed through the service of their home at breakneck speed, often forgetting to do some things and in general providing an inconsistent to unsatisfactory level of service. She heard stories of the individual cleaning lady that one day just didn’t show up and was never heard from again. Worst of all she heard stories of household items that had gone missing or damaged without explanation or admitted culpability. She realized that the Greater Seattle market had a pressing need for something better; a housekeeping service that provided all the customized individual attention given to Broomstick contented clients but, large enough to embrace all of the referrals on her burgeoning waiting list along with other discerning clientele. The New Broomstick would be large enough, but not so large that its employees and clients were treated like so many numbers on a spread sheet dedicated solely to company profit. In other words, a company with high integrity and real commitment to the well being of both its clients and employees. In order to accomplish this goal Liz knew she would need help at the management level.
Providence took its course and in early July Liz was introduced by a mutual acquaintance to Bruce McQuilken. Bruce had recently sold a company he founded and developed over a 13 year time frame and was looking for a new business opportunity that could take advantage of his experience and areas of expertise. After numerous conversations and strategy sessions, Liz and Bruce understood that their individual talents and expertise would be mutually supportive and the management alliance that would lead Broomstick Cleaning into the future was solidified. This is what Bruce had to say to current Broomstick clients about his new endeavor:
“Liz and I have realized that we both have talents and skill sets that can be combined to enhance the ability of Broomstick to serve a larger client base while providing the same high quality service that you are all accustom to. As we move into the future, Liz will be personally involved in all of the client service areas. She will be the president and face of Broomstick, responsible for quality control, service standards and supervision and training of all new fully vetted service providers. She will continue to be focused, as she always has been, on the satisfaction of Broomstick clients. I will be involved in the service end with Liz at first and will also be attending to marketing, sales and administration. It is our plan that this new organization and sharing of responsibility, when combined with the solid foundation already laid by Liz, will result in a company that is a great place to work and great company to have work for you. While it is our intention to grow the company, it is most emphatically not our intention to be the largest housekeeping company in the Greater Seattle market, just the best housekeeping company in this market”
So, if you are among those that either have housekeeping service that does not meet your needs on a consistent basis or have wanted to employee a housekeeping service but were dissuaded by fear of the unknown and/or stories of dissatisfaction from friends, then look no further. Broomstick Cleaning is the locally established housekeeping service; the one that knows that the opportunity to serve you is a privilege that must be continually earned.
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