Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
News Radio fifteen eighty one hundred point nine FM WCCF
seven thirty four. Here on a Friday morning, it's the
CDBI A hour with Donna Barrett.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Donna, Good morning, Ken, How are you Happy New Year?
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Happy New Year?
Speaker 4 (00:20):
How was your holidays?
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Christmas? Everything? Kwanza? You're what was the other one? Custovus,
Festivus and Nika?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
That was, Oh my goodness. I can't believe I forgot that.
I know, but December seemed like it was already eighty
five years ago. I know it was January third, and
I felt like it was the end of January. We
let it go, don't no. I just this time. Time
is weird right now for me too. But it's been
(00:59):
already a great, exciting twenty twenty five and we're excited
with our new guest. I mean, what a way to
start off the year with a clean slate is We
have Thomas here with top clean prose. Tom joined our
association last year and he is so much fun. It's
been really exciting to get to know him and his family.
(01:19):
He focuses on cleaning and we'll go further into exactly
what you do, and he has a great background. He
is from Wisconsin.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
So he's a cheese Yeah, you like the cheese absolutely.
What's your f is there? A?
Speaker 1 (01:33):
I would imagine that there's all kinds of cheeses in
Wisconsin that you we don't get down here, like certain regional.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Stuff like that. What's your favorite up there? Monster is
one of my favorites. Yeah, a lot of creamy flavor
and a lot of different ones. Great for sandmit cheese
and fresh cheese curds are there's no comparison to fresh
fresh fried cheese curds that would be post fresh.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So Thomas, tell us a little bit about Top Clean Pro.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Sure. We are a family owned and operated business, and
my family are proud first generation Americans from Nicaragua and
they love America. You look so Nicaragua, I do. And
the thing about my family is they love to work
and so makes my job running top Clean very easy.
(02:29):
But our values are that we want to serve our customers,
we want to make life easier for them, and we
want the cleaning to be stress and worry free.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
And what do you focus on in your cleaning? What
are some of your customers? Do you do house cleaning?
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Yes, give it to us from the top down. Ah,
you like that. Well, top notch service is provided to
many different types of customers, and you know, of course
with the CDBA, we'll start with those folks because they're
my favorite. And so not only do we clean construction sites,
but we also do for the builders their model homes
(03:04):
and some of their inventory that's sitting around. You know,
if a house is sitting around for a little bit,
it needs a little sprucing up.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Be amazed how just sitting there dust accumulates.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Spiders, iron, all kinds of things.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Yes, yes, it happens everywhere, and so.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
When you're selling your house, you want it to look superb, right,
But I mean some of the other customers, So we'll
clean offices, showrooms, medical facilities. You know in this area,
the airbnbs, the rentals right and long term rentals as well.
And then one of my other favorite ones are luxury
apartments and condos. So those are some of the properties
(03:44):
that we'll do.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
And if somebody is looking for a new cleaning company,
how is your schedule pretty good where you have a
lot of openings or are you more exclusive where you
just have a few openings right now?
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well, this time of year gets little busier. The nice
thing about my family is when I say we have
a new job, they don't say I don't want to
work late that night, or I don't want to work Saturday,
or so you know, we try to be flexible if
we can, and I think that's one of the things
that sets us apart.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
So before we go to break what is your phone?
How can people reach you?
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Sure? Two three nine four one zero zero three nine five,
And I still answer the phone myself.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Do you have a website?
Speaker 3 (04:30):
We do topcleanpros dot com.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
That was easy to remember.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Two three nine four one zero zero three nine five.
Quick break, We'll be right back. News Radio fifteen eighty
one hundred point nine f m w c c F
It's the CDBI A hour at seven forty two on
(04:56):
a Friday with Donna Barrett.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Donna, Hello, I am excited that we have our guest today,
Tom with Top Clean Prose. I feel like I'm going
to say it back with all the time.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
It's like a tongue twister, I know.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And Tom, how'd you get started in the business?
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Let's go back into this, okay? Sure? And also, I'd
be remiss if I don't thank you for having me Donnie,
you are one of the most gracious people I know
and can I love listening to you. So it's such
an honor to be well.
Speaker 4 (05:24):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
We got started. My family has decades of cleaning experience,
and we saw, especially after COVID, the I'll call it
the loss of excellence. You know, people expect just mediocre anymore.
Oh that's just what we expect, and that is not
my family's values. So when some of the companies they
(05:47):
work for are losing customers and not treating customers the
right way, they said to me, you know, this is horrible,
and I said, I think we could do something about this.
And one of the things we like to say in
our family is we can make a difference. So through cleaning,
we like to make a difference, and that's that's how
we started. I love that.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
So what type of properties do you clean?
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Sure? You know some of the like I say, some
of the favorite things are the builder stuff. We love construction,
and we love doing the model homes and some of
the inventory homes and things like that. Some of the
other things are the luxury condos. We really love those.
In fact, we have one. We're willing to go all
the way down to Benita Springs for it. So and
(06:30):
then we also have one in Sarasota. But also if
somebody just has a small office, we'll do it. You know,
we have a customer who has a showroom with just
a showroom and then a small office, and the showroom's
fun because as soon as we walked in, we said,
we can make a difference. The medical facilities as well
as the offices. Some of the medical facilities, the labs,
(06:51):
those kind of things. Some of the properties. We actually
have a commercial washing and dryer at our house. You
might see, why do you do that? When you go
to do an airbnb if they have maybe four bedrooms
or something, you'll never get done until the next customer comes.
So we actually take it home and utilize that commercial
(07:12):
washer and dryer that we have. Wow, there you go.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Now, how often if you have a small office, how
often would you recommend that they do with deep cleaning.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
That's a great question, I think what a person. Well,
first off, deep cleanings are interesting and I'm so glad
you brought that up. We don't really do deep cleanings
too much unless it's a one off, you know, it's
a one time The reason being the first time we
hit a job, we're going to deep clean it and
then we're going to maintain it so you don't have
(07:43):
to deep You don't have to because I'm seeing certain things,
and we rotate it around and we make sure your
properly looks good all the time. And that's interesting when
you look at prices, because we've ran into a lot
of places that say, well, my cleaner does it for X,
and then you look at the contract real close and
there's a quarterly deep cleaning of a lot of money
and we don't have that, so we find that interesting.
(08:05):
But okay, back to the question you ask me, how
often should you clean? Well, think of the benefits of
the cleaning. Your staff is going to take care of
all your things way better. And that's proven. There's that
broken window theory. Right when you take care of the
little things, the big things come around. So your staff
is healthier, they're happier, they're more productive. Take a look
(08:27):
at your office. Does it need it once a week?
Is it a busy office? Do you need it a
couple times a week? Maybe you're small, you only needed
every other week. But you know, we're flexible and we'll
make suggestions. But Ultimately, it's up to the customer and
what they.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
I know a lot of women, a lot of women
who work in offices and they demand a clean bathroom.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Yes, this is kind of the thing we're talking about.
Those details, the kitchen clean, the microwave, the you know,
and also your customers. If you have an office where
customers are showing up and there's smudges all over the
front door and you know, the entrance looks terrible, you know,
what's the feeling? You know how much you're saving by
having your customer have a great experience. You got to
(09:08):
set the tone.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
We're going to have to tell Robins, she's going to
have to do cleaning to make you happier.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Oh boy, happier.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Happier Tom. What sets you apart from the competition? There's
a lot of cleaning companies that are out there. What
sets you all off?
Speaker 3 (09:27):
His hat?
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Yes, first off, I wish there was visual today. It's
a cool hat, and he actually has a top hat
on his car outside.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Yes, I've seen.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Well. I appreciate you bringing that up. Those are the
things that help represent our customer, our company, top service.
So but everybody can claim cop top notch service. I
think one of the biggest things that sets us apart
is our family that we are one hundred family owned
and operated. So, you know, I'd like to give a
great example. I he was recently recruited by a large
(10:02):
cleaning company to subclean for them, and they're out of Tampa.
And the reason I want to bring this up is
because I know other people are listening that are contractors
like I am. Subcontractors. They have many different categories, painting, drywall,
all these categories, and one of those categories is cleaning.
So what they do is they say, well, we hire
(10:24):
people that are minimum wage, and we manage them and
we bring them down and we can lower the costs
a little bit. Now, I'm going to ask a general question.
If you have a beautiful office, do you really want
people coming in and out all the time? Different people?
You don't know who they are, you don't know where
(10:44):
they You know, that's a I can't answer that question
for anybody. But I know what I was this beautiful
red swing line stapler on this desk. Well, it's mine. Now.
I got a little peak at their customer list. They
had Mercedes Benzes and all kinds of high end plays
and it shocked me. So I was really happy for
that experience to learn that what sets us apart is
(11:05):
we don't do that. You're going to get the same
people and you're going to know us. And honestly, I
don't want to brag, but you're probably not going to
have to call us for anything. But on those kind
of companies, I guarantee your calling them all the time.
And then they're going to say, well, the supervisor and
the manager and there's and they've all changed. And that's
not us.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
We have had situations in town with where what you're
speaking about has happened.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
And sadly that's just kind of you know, Fortunately for you,
you've been blessed with you know, family, family owned business
and a great family with a great work ethic, so
you can get the job done.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
It's true. And then I think the other thing is
the flexibility with the family. They want they want to
do the work, they want to make us look good
and they want to help you, and that's I think
that's what sets us apart.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
And again for listeners that are out there too, what
you're hearing this as a family, so it's a close
knit but if you ever do have a company that
is coming in, make sure that they are bonded so
that way you are protected if something does if you
need to file a report, is your company bonded?
Speaker 3 (12:11):
We're licensed, bonded, insured as well as workers comp as
well as enhanced automobile insurance. A lot of these properties,
you know they're not going to take your general little
your policy for your car. You have to enhance the policy,
and that is so important.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
A lot of people do not realize again that if
you have somebody that comes onto your property, if they
do not have workers compensation, they can file against your
own home, your general liability policy, and so you always
want to make sure that somebody is covered on that.
So we're getting ready to go into another break here.
I want to make sure people get your contact information again.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Okay, Topcleanpros dot Com is our website or you can
call me at two three nine four one zero zero
three nine.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Five fantastic and we have a couple more a couple
more seconds though. Really you've been down here since twenty nineteen.
What brought you to this part of town?
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Okay, I lived in Cape Coral at the time, and
I was looking for a house and that was when
Cape Coral was on one of those high high prices,
et cetera, and I just started looking further north, and
thank goodness, I ended up in Port Charlotte. Made love it.
Welcome to We love it.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Yes, all right, We'll be right back on news Radio
fifteen eighty News Radio fifteen eighty one hundred point nine
FM WCCs F seven fifty two On a Friday, It's
the Cdbia Hour with Donna Barrett.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
And today we have our guest Tom with top Clean
Prose with us today. I'm so glad that you're here.
You bring such a great energy with you when you
come to our meetings, when whenever I'm around you, so
thank you for being so involved. I want to go
into it though, what sets you apart from your competition?
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Well, I think there's a few things. You know, we
talked about the family, but I think our culture and
our value set us apart. You know, That's that's one
of the huge things I think that really set us apart.
And unfortunately we'll just go back slightly to the part
about being insured and those kind of things, because let's
(14:29):
be honest, you know a lot of people say, well,
you know, my neighbor's going to clean for me or
my friend or whatever. But you know, like you said,
are they insured, are they licensed?
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Do they you know, do they have Are they really
your friend after they cut their fingers, slash their finger
open in your house?
Speaker 3 (14:43):
And I actually ran into that with a builder where
he hired us because of that. And another office too.
They were hiring their employees to do work that they
weren't you designed to do.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
There was just a woman arrested recently, or was on
the news this morning about she was cleaning a person's
home and demanded her she gave her a five hundred
dollars bonus and actually took some checks. This just happened.
It was on the NBC this morning.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
I was watching this is sadly.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Sadly she didn't make it to the door. That's how
that story should end.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
But you know, and a lot of people though, I mean,
especially in our community, there's there's a fear factor, so
that she probably did give her I don't know the
whole backstory, but I've.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Got to watch half her scars like that.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
That's why you want to hire somebody, a professional whose
license bonded and you can check out.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Well and I'd like to talk about our industry a
little bit. We're trying to really bring the professionalism and
the quality to the industry. We don't want to show up,
give you the lowest bid, and then you don't like
us because we're never there or we don't you know,
we don't show up, or you know, we're not doing
a great job. And unfortunately we run into that. So Donna,
(15:55):
you taught me this, and I'm telling people, give us
a shot. Let us do one little corner, one little house,
one little thing, and I'll do your price. And and
but you know you're going to see what a quality
clean what professional cleaning crew that comes out in nice uniforms,
and and and and you know is communicative and professional
(16:15):
can do for you.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Has it been happening?
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Are you get that helps a lot? It's PreCure you
telling me that, And it's true.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
There's my passion always is, especially with our smaller companies.
So we want to I want to see you thrive
and succeed. What are some of the core values of
your company.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Well, I think professionalism is a high one and that's
really really up there for us. And so it is
pleasing the customer, making the customer happy. It's about you
and and making your life easier, especially for busy people
like builders, et cetera. I mean, you don't you don't
want to have to call me because you know something
went wrong or you know not. Not that we never
(16:54):
make a mistake, because we're human, obviously, but do you
make it right. Funny story. We had a door that
somebody left open. Could have been us, not sure, but
not open unlocked. Sorry, sure, Milton, I believe came through
blew the door open. Place was full of mosquitos. A
good buddy of mine. I called him. He was there
in an hour. I didn't even know this. You can
(17:14):
kill mosquitos in a home a pest control place, at
least they could, and so the people were happy, you know.
But you know, these are the kind of things that
you know, if you call a big company, I don't
know how long it would take them to get out
there or even acknowledge you. Like again, I don't even
know that we did it. There were other people coming
and going, but I solved it, and you know that
(17:36):
kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
So I will hear at the office. Sometimes the people
that need specialized cleaning supplies, whether it be for animals,
whether it be because of allergies. Do you get into
those details where you may use different supplies for different
people if there's a request. Yeah, I mean are recommendations.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Since we mostly focus on commercial, that doesn't come up
a lot. However, that being said, everything is is FDA
approved that we use and we do not use bleach.
So the bleach is out and all the products we
use our FDA approved. We don't use any strange items
or anything like that. So everything saved and bleach is bad,
(18:15):
but everything else is safe. Bleach is best well.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Spelled coffee.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Yes, it causes some problems in our industry, so we
stay away from it.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
So one thing also when it comes to smaller companies
we mentioned this even though with our builders is look
at their involvement in the community. Yeah, Tommy, you've been
down here since twenty nineteen. How active are you in
the community. Are you part of any other professional organizations
outside the CDB?
Speaker 3 (18:43):
I sure, thanks for asking, and I'll bring up one
real quick, just because I like them. They're not local,
but the International Janitorial Cleaning Service Association. That one's for
professional purposes, that's not really to help the community. But
we are involved in the Charlotte County Chamber where member.
We're a member of the Southwest Florida Department Association, the
(19:04):
Local Border Realtors, which is a Punta Gorda Port Charlotte,
north Port to Soto, then the late the Women's Council
of Reeltors. We're a business partner actually in the Port
of Guarda. I'm not a realtor. We are also in
the Northport Business Club, and then I'm also in a
local b and I So I'll shout out to all
my friends listening.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
All right, fantastic, that's a lot, and thank you very
much for being here. We'll be back to talk with
Tom Moore about his business. We've got Top of the
Hour news coming up, and uh, we'll be back after that. Donna,
is that okay?
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Perfect?
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Then it'll give you enough time to clean up your
spilled coffee.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
Yes, centering out danger, pttering out of warning.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Honoring on.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
News Radio fifteen eighty one hundred point nine FM WCCF,
Friday morning, eight oh six, continuing on with the CDBI
A hour with Donna Barrett and Top Clean Pros.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Yes, Tom, it's after eight o'clock, so we may have
some new people driving into work. Tell us a little
bit about Top Queen Pros.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Sure, Top Clean Pros. We again family owned and operated,
and we clean just about any interior surfaces. So just
about any kind of interior structure you own, will take
care of it.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
In what area do you cover?
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Thank you for asking. We go as far south as
Benita Springs and as north as Sarasota.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Oh that's a pretty good territory. And who are some
of the customers that you serve?
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Sure, some of the customers that we have our property managers, builders,
business owners, office managers, realtors and builders, apartment and condo managers,
and people maybe investors who own properties because we do
those long and short term renolds.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
You were talking earlier too about doing the maintenance, not
really needing to do a deep cleaning every quarter because
you stay up and do the maintenance on that. Do
you see certain times of a year where it may
get dustier because of allergies. Sure, you do change your
schedule around often.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
But yeah, as far as dusting goes, we will. What
we see is of course in the drier months. Okay,
So the dryer it is, the more dust from the roads,
et cetera. You're going to see it. I'm going to
be up cleaning your events more. I'm going to be
cleaning your fans more often. Those kind of things. Yeah,
you forget. We got to look up to and we were.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Talking a little bit about this too. A typical office,
how often would you recommend or how often would you
come in on a just ap right here in town?
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Yeah, I mean a busy office. On average, they'd like
to do it about once a week. But you know,
we're flexible if you need it more or less, we're
happy to do that. It really depends. But some of
the things you can do to prevent that we didn't
talk about that. I'm gonna bring it up real quick
because I think this is helpful to people. One thing
you can do is you can get rid of those
crazy lights in front of your property and replace them
(22:09):
with yellow lights. The yellow lights do not attract the bugs, which, ergo,
do not attract the spiders, So you're not gonna have
all those horrible spider webs all the time. That which,
even though we're interior cleaners, will we take care of
those because we want your property to look good? Right,
Yellow yellow lights, yellow colored lights are on my birthday list.
The other thing you can do is you can get
(22:31):
a nice quality doormat, you know, a heavy duty one
outside and then maybe a less heavy duty one that'll
that'll pick up the finer dust on the inside. The
longer and bigger the better, right, So a minimum of
two mats, and then you can even do them in
front of your some of your offices if if you know,
you really want your office to look sparkly, but you
know the interior offices. It's huge that that you know,
(22:55):
you're not tracking everything all over and and and you
know those kind of.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
Things, so very impressive. This is new stuff that I
have never heard before.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
Really when you think about it. Yeah, of course, like I.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Said, I wrote down the yellow lights to my husband
about those. Now, I love your energy, I love your
passion that you put into every one of your job sites.
But what are some of your obstacles.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Well, one of the most recent one I find kind
of funny a builder had two cleaners. Which that's a
great idea to have a backup. And we would always
be a backup for anybody if you like, and we
can show you what we can do. But the first
choice didn't want to tackle it, and what it was
was a tub in a new construction site full of
(23:43):
some kind of gelatinous substance with other things mixed in
and kind of semi hard and nobody knew what it was. Yay,
And since we're on the radio, I won't use.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
My sweetheart's exact yes, but she said, you've given an
app description.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
After she cleaned it, and she did it, she said,
nobody messes with the NICKARU shouldn't use the word mess
but you understand so.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Kind of as we were talking about the CBS, you
have that can do attitude we.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Do, and those kind of challenges we love. The other challenge,
of course, that I overcome is when people say, oh,
the cleaners are all the same. You know, we haven't
had good experiences, and you know we love to overcome that.
We love to show them. Let's see what a professional
quality company can do. Somebody who cares, somebody who wants
your life easier. Let us show you.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
When somebody is looking. And I'm sure every single person
who's listening would love to have somebody come and clean
their homes, or clean their offices, or clean their model homes.
What is one thing that they should consider when they
are looking at hiring somebody.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
Sure, if you don't mind, I'll talk about a few things.
I mean, I think, and not just cleaners right in
the building industry, et cetera. It's important that everybody is insured, right, Okay,
let's let's talk about that. And then you know, you
can get Google you know, reviews, those are great, but
how about personal references? If they ask you can you know,
(25:13):
do they have somebody they can talk to and say
how do they do what? You know, that kind of thing,
So you want to ask for that.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
You mean the bots on Google aren't good enough?
Speaker 3 (25:22):
No, they're great. But I paid good money for those bots.
That's that's all good and everything. And you know we're
going to get involved in that a little bit because
you know, we got to compete with everybody. But you know,
do you also have humans that you can talk to
that can give you a good reference, that can say
these are the guys. You know, I've got customers who
are friends now, they'd be happy to talk to you
(25:43):
any time.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
We are a handshake community, Tom. And you know this,
You've been around now long enough, and I do believe
that that word of mouth still has more weight than whoever.
You don't know that replies on a post on a
group or a page that you put on Facebook. So
podos to you for building up that handshake and meeting
as many people as you possibly can. Is there any
(26:08):
preventive cleaning advice that you can give to yet a
secret couple?
Speaker 3 (26:13):
Oh yeah, we gave a couple. The other thing I
would suggest to anybody in offices have a little bit
of cleaning supplies there because if there's a quick problem,
you can deal with it and it's not sitting there
for a week. And again your people when when I'll
give a quick example, we had a medical facility that
the people were actually cleaning between the cleaners, I mean
(26:34):
full cleans. But to take it down way, you know,
a notch way down. Have your staff or your people
there have a few things on hand so that they
can help if something comes up real quick in between
when top clean comes love that.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
When you were in Wisconsin, were you doing home cleaning
as well or is that something that you just started
when you moved to Florida.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
It's funny you mentioned that I did in an offhand way.
I didn't own a company, but I did it. But
when I moved here, I did have a company many
years ago, and the workscape has definitely changed. You know,
back then we knew one person and it kind of
just spread because that was the only way you could
spread things. Now people are looking at all different kinds
(27:16):
of things. So but that's the main challenge. That's why
we are really involved in the community and we really
want to I love the handshake thing because that is me. I.
You know, we we don't do I don't think I
have any contracts. If you don't like me, okay, you know,
we'll move on. But that has never happened.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Tom, Can you give us your contact information again before.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
We go to break love to Topcleanpros dot com or
two three nine four one zero zero three ninety five
where I are still answer the phone myself.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
There you go two three nine four one zero zero
three nine five, Pay some bills, check some traffic. We'll
be back on News Radio fifteen eighty News Radio fifteen
(28:06):
eighty one hundred point nine FMWCCF. This is the Cdbia
Hour with Donna Barrett.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Well. Hello, Ken, Tom, and our guest today is Tom
with top Clean Prose. Tom has a family owned company.
You mentioned this earlier. How many people in your family
actually worked for your company.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Well, we have several, but we'll talk about the top
ones for Top Clean, I would definitely like to give
a shout out to our VP of Operations. That would
be Ivy, and she is the one who has all
the cleaning expertise, the knowledge and make sure everything's running right.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
It's my granddaughter's name, is it, yes, one of them?
Speaker 2 (28:47):
That's his wife.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
Well, funny story her. I call her Triple I because
in her when in her country, they screwed up the
paperwork and she was supposed to be in Verna, but
they wrote in Vesna and she came here. Her first
job was in a nursing home and they said, they're
not going to understand that you're Ivy, which is funny
because we both have a lot of similar stories. That's
(29:09):
how I became Thomas. My family knows me it's Tom
or Tommy, but I have a medical background. So I
was a director of an assistant living facility and the
people will call me John, Bob, ted, Bill, anything but Tom.
But when I said Thomas, they knew who I was.
So then our supervisor is Ivy. That's I mean, I'm sorry,
(29:30):
is Ivy's daughter and that's Beatrice and so's she's the supervisor,
so she's the one making sure that everything's done, everything's right,
checking it. And then we also have our grandson and
his name is Larcenes. So those are the top three.
But I also saw her family. And remember I mentioned that,
you know, we can be flexible, so if somebody said, hey,
(29:51):
we got something tomorrow, sorry to give it to you
last minute, I can often pull in some other family
members that can help us.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
So if you had ten different job sitting in front
of you of people that wanted and you had to
choose one, what's kind of your favorite jobs to clean?
Speaker 3 (30:07):
I think the model homes because we know that that's
huge for the builders, right, we know the impact that
has for their business, So that's probably number one. I
really enjoy doing those. We have any crime scene cleanup?
Oh we haven't yet, but it's funny. You mentioned that
we are certified in hazardous materials and biohazardous materials, so
(30:30):
I haven't had one yet, but you could do it.
We could do it absolutely. I don't know if you'd
really want to. Well, I try to reach out to
somebody that does that, and I imagine they're busy, but
we would you know, we're kind of the people that
come in after them. Okay, just like for instance, the
disaster clean up people, they're great partners for us. They
broom sweep and then we come in and do all
(30:52):
the details nice.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
And they have their own chemicals that they have to
put down. Obviously, we've learned more about mold and then
we ever wanted to. You know, anytime you have any
type of water intrusion in your home, you have a
high chance of their being molding your home. And I
always like to throw that out. Just make sure that
you check, especially if you've not been feeling well, you're
(31:15):
starting to feel maybe a little oozy when you come
in or have headaches, So I like to bring that up.
That is mold remediation.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Sorry, I had their realm. We stay out of that.
Like I said, we come in at the end, and
I imagine with Mannesota Key we had a bunch of airbnbs,
so we'll probably be going back to But being a
small company, we're lucky we could pivot because even though
we lost a lot of business, which many people did.
We're not complaining, Please don't think that, but we had
(31:43):
to pivot to other things. Sure, and I imagine we'll
be going back to some of those places when they're done,
and then you know, we'll be one of the first cleaners,
and then of course as the guest return, then we'll
be back in there.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
We are starting to see a lot of the permits
for remodeling. I think in November was three.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
Hundred will that's exciting it was.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Only about one hundred and in December for permits that
were issued.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
Well, you know, it's the new year, and even as
we're seeing people.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
Well with all the storms that had happened, and this
is Charlotte County, not including the city, to see them
starting so much earlier, that's a good thing too. So
and we don't have to worry they're pulling the permits,
which is what we need to for FEMA to make
sure that we do keep our discount. There was a
lot of people that were upset about those those notifications
on the door, but it was a very smart decision
(32:33):
to make sure the homeowners knew that they needed to
pull a permit or they may need to May is
very important not to go into the deep end.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
But you're not and it's so important. I mean, the
things just community has been through and how resilient everybody is.
And you know, even in some of the meetings we
have for CDBA, I see some of the positiveness. It's
just fantastic to see the resilience.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
And we are the show out to soda. Building Industry
Association is our focus is the rebuild right now and
it always has. We are majority of our members are
mom and pops. We're small companies and this is our community.
So many of our members are next generation. They've been
raised here, they've raised their families here. This is what
they love and they want to just see everybody get
(33:20):
back to being able to enjoy their paradise.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
In their home. Well, and what I like. You told
me something on the way in here. What I like
is that we also have the backing of the national
organization and the Florida State of Floor Organization. So even
my little brother, who is a contractor up north, said
you're part of the Building Industry Association. I said, why, yes,
I am, Yes, we're an important part. And then I said,
(33:44):
we also have national backing and national recognition.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
So yeah, you have to show them the NAHB, which
is the National Association from Builder's logo and say I'm
part of you.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
Well, not only am I going to show them the
logo Donna, but when I get my wrap, I'm going
to put it on there and I'm going to show
them a picture of my van.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
I love it. In situations, you know, we'll go to
them all the time, especially you know, the government and
their laws may be a little tricky and not everybody
may not know them. So when there's an issue, our
whole focus again is always to make sure that we
get people into their homes, and so we'll we on
our national when it comes to federal laws and federal
rulings that have been out there. You know, there's a
(34:20):
whole team sitting there waiting for my phone calls all
the time.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Fantastic.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
We have just a few more minutes too, not six okay,
even better? Good, Okay, So let's go back into this.
I want to go what what are some of the
businesses that you are looking for some of the clients
and properties that you serve.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Sure, you know, we talked about a lot of businesses,
but I'd like to add one that we didn't talk about,
and that is some of the larger commercial ventures. So
some of the things we can do our friends and
schools we can do some of the larger offices that
are you know, really have you know, dozens, if not
maybe hundreds of employees that are local. There's a couple
(34:59):
of them, and and I think we're going to get
into one real quick. But I think the schools are
a big one. And let's talk about that for a second.
We did some deep diving, and I don't know that
it's necessary now, but if some of these things ever
come back the COVID of the world, et cetera, we
now have some safe and some exciting things that we
(35:22):
can do to help with that. And they scrub the
air and things like that. So we're I had to
do a lot of deep diving and learning and everything
like that. But that's how I am. You know, I
see something and I want to learn about it and
learn more.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
So well, and it's easy for us to go right
back to COVID. But there has been well I'm sorry
when you're looking at doing the cleaning to kind of
use that as a gauge. Oh sure, but I mean
there's been many schools that have closed down because of
the flu or a simple stomach bug. So having that
as an that's great to know that this is why.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
You know, especially like a doctor, a dentist, you know,
those kind of things, they need a great professional cleaner.
Somebody's got to wipe all those surfaces down, anti bacterial stuff,
you know. We you know, we've got to kill all
the viruses and everything like that. And and so you know,
please tell your doctors, your dentist, don't skimp out. You know,
(36:16):
that's not where you want to skimp out. You know
that that's very important. And and you know, all those
surfaces need to be disinfected.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
And like I said, not just even thinking COVID was
That's what I was before. Yes, but you know the
fact that I mean, like I said, more than time
right now, somebody even our.
Speaker 4 (36:35):
Remembers season ye keep those services wipe down, Thomas.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
That's that's amazing. What's your contact information? If somebody wants
to set up an appointment or if they want to
get some more information for you, well.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
They can go to our website, which is topcleanpros dot com.
And then they can also call me anytime and we'll
come out and look at something.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
You know.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
One of one of the interesting things that I forget
to tell people about is a lot of so just
give you a price right over the phone, and they
don't even look and see what your needs are. They
don't walk your property with you. You'd love to come
walk your property, see what your needs are. Perhaps we
have a suggestion. Maybe, but you know that's that's how
we operate. Like you said, I'm a handshake person. I
don't want to just be a cold fish. I want
(37:17):
to I want to see what's going on. I want
to meet you and see how we can solve your problem.
Speaker 2 (37:21):
Is there a best time if somebody's going to give
you a call today? What time they should call you?
Speaker 3 (37:24):
They can call me any time.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
So my phone operator is standing by.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
Yeah, yeah, I'm standing but wait till I'm out of here.
Ken won't let me answer while I'm on the air.
Two three nine four one zero zero three ninety five.
So that's that's our phone, my phone. I answer it myself.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Is it a mobile phone where somebody could text you?
Speaker 3 (37:44):
Absolutely thinks that's a great idea. They can, And I
do have some people text me sometimes. Uh you know,
we've I've actually got a customer and I never talked
to them. Wow, Which that's fine, it's okay. But they
don't to set up a meeting or whatever. You know,
even if I just come to your property and you know,
your assistant shows me around, or the you know, the
(38:05):
the administrator shows us around. You know, we really like
to look at something first. It's way better, way better
that way.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
And what makes your company separate from the others.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
I think that we care, And if you could put
it in one word, I think that we care is
one word. My family cares about the business and they
care about you. You know, you're our customer. We want
your life easier, we want your life simpler. We want
you to have that awesome clean We want to look
around and say, yeah, we made a difference. We can
make a difference.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Tom, I truly believe that in my heart, and knowing
you as long as I have now, I do know
that you are something special. And I love the fact
that you care so much about all of your clients
as well.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
Don I appreciate that, And honestly, you're one of the
most gracious and affable people I know as well, So
I really appreciate that, and from coming from you, it
means a lot, though really doesn't. And there's hundreds of
people I know that know you. They will say the
same thing, and.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
I owe them all money too, real quick.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Wasn't it just a chance that we had? We had
a lot of time to talk, right because I made
a mistake and came on the wrong day for a meeting,
and you were just sitting there and said come.
Speaker 2 (39:15):
On, And that's how we started talking about this radio show.
Speaker 3 (39:18):
It's true. Even though I'm a fan and a listener,
I was so excited when you said we're going to
see Ken Lovejoy. I said, wow, that's great. Well, I'm
sorry that that's the highlight? Hopefully?
Speaker 2 (39:30):
Is it free autographs?
Speaker 1 (39:33):
So?
Speaker 3 (39:34):
What how long you been down here in Florida?
Speaker 4 (39:36):
Now?
Speaker 3 (39:37):
Well, Ken, most of my adult life. Okay, So what
was some of your favorite things to do growing up
in Wisconsin. That's a great question, I believe it or not.
I love the bob sled and toboggan. I love doing that,
especially when there are no adults around. Definitely, definitely until
my friend broke her leg, but we won't talk about
that one. I wasn't a part of that. I saw it,
(39:59):
but I didn't do it.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
What made you make the transition from Wisconsin to Florida?
Speaker 3 (40:03):
Well, for me, I saw everybody moving down when they
were older, and I said, I'm gonna do it when
I'm younger. Yeah, enjoy it, enjoy it. I got suckered
down here by my best friend. Thank you Donna so much.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
Thanks.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
We'll talk to you again that next week. And thank
you Tom, Tom FROs. Thanks two three nine four one
zero zero three nine five. We'll talk to you next
week on news Radio fifteen eighty