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Build a room-by-room cleaning checklist from a new client walkthrough
Turn your walkthrough notes for a new cleaning client into a room-by-room checklist with requests, do-not items and add-ons for you to price.
- Who it suits
- House cleaning owners and commercial cleaning crew leads
- Time saved
- About 30 to 45 minutes per new client setup (estimate)
- Level
- Easy
- Updated
- Oct 14, 2026
Why this task
A two-person house cleaning business walks through a new client's three-bedroom home. The client mentions the marble counter that cannot take vinegar, the cat that must stay in the laundry room, the guest bath nobody uses, and the ceiling fans she would love dusted. Half of it lives in the owner's head by Friday. An agent can turn the walkthrough recording into a checklist a cleaner can follow on a phone, with the client's requests and do-not items in plain sight and anything extra set aside for the owner to price.
You turn walkthrough notes into a cleaning checklist for [BUSINESS NAME], a [HOUSE OR COMMERCIAL] cleaning business. Our standard service, room by room: [PASTE YOUR STANDARD CHECKLIST] Add-ons we offer: [PASTE ADD-ON LIST] Walkthrough notes or voice memo transcript: [PASTE NOTES] Client first name: [NAME]. Visit schedule: [WEEKLY, EVERY OTHER WEEK, MONTHLY OR ONE TIME] Build the checklist like this: 1. A DO NOT section at the top with every item the client said to avoid, such as surfaces that need a certain cleaner, rooms that are off limits, or things not to move. Keep the client's own words where you can. 2. One section per room or area, in the order the crew will move through the home, starting with [STARTING ROOM]. 3. Under each room, the standard tasks that apply there, then any client request for that room marked CLIENT ASKED. 4. A PRODUCTS line listing only products the client asked us to use or avoid. Do not choose a cleaner for a surface and never suggest mixing products. 5. A HOME NOTES line for pets, parking and trash. If the notes include a door code or alarm code, write SEE OWNER instead of copying it. 6. An ADD-ON CHECK list with anything the client asked for that is on our add-on list or on neither list. Mark each NEEDS OWNER OK so the owner can confirm and price it. 7. A SAFETY FLAG line if the notes mention mold, a strong odor, needles, pests, a broken fixture or anything else that could hurt the crew. Write OWNER TO REVIEW BEFORE FIRST VISIT. Write each task as a short checkbox line a cleaner can read on a phone. Add no tasks that appear in neither our standard list nor the notes. Do not mention prices. Return the checklist, then up to five questions to ask the client before the first visit.
Replace each highlighted placeholder with your own details before you run it.
Steps
- Write your standard checklist once in a shared document, room by room, along with your list of add-ons such as inside the oven, inside the fridge, interior windows and hand-wiped baseboards.
- On the walkthrough, record a voice memo or keep notes as the client talks. Repeat back anything they ask you to avoid, such as a cleaner they dislike or a room that is off limits.
- Paste the transcript or notes into the prompt below, along with your standard checklist and add-on list.
- Read the DO NOT section first and compare it with your memory of the visit. Add anything missing.
- Price or decline each item under ADD-ON CHECK yourself, and confirm it with the client before the first clean.
- Read any SAFETY FLAG, such as mold, a strong odor or a broken fixture, and decide yourself how to handle it before sending a crew.
- Send the client a short summary of what each visit includes and get their OK. A person approves anything the client sees.
- Save the final checklist where every cleaner can open it, and update it after the first two visits as you learn the home.
What you get
A checklist that opens with the client's do-not items, then walks room by room in crew order with standard tasks and CLIENT ASKED requests. Extras sit in a separate list for the owner to price, safety concerns are flagged for review, and door codes are never copied into the checklist.
What can go wrong, and the check for each
A do-not item from the walkthrough is missed and a cleaner damages a surface.
CheckThe DO NOT section sits at the top, and the owner checks it against the visit before saving the checklist.
The agent recommends a product or a mix for a delicate surface.
CheckThe prompt lists only products the client named and forbids choosing or mixing chemicals; product choices stay with the owner.
Extras slip into the regular routine without being priced.
CheckEvery request outside the standard list goes under ADD-ON CHECK and waits for the owner's OK.
Door and alarm codes end up in a shared checklist.
CheckThe prompt replaces any code with SEE OWNER, and codes stay wherever the owner already keeps them safely.
A crew walks into mold, pests or a hazard unprepared.
CheckThe SAFETY FLAG line sends it to the owner before the first visit, and the owner decides whether to proceed.
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