Budgets Are Often A Balancing Act

A continually changing economic landscape is keeping budgets low or in flux. As a Facility Manager, it is undoubtedly frustrating to have to do more work with less money. You are often called to keep quality consistent with less than you were working with before. It can be frustrating to feel like you must be a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat you don’t have. However, even with this set of challenging circumstances, some managers have figured out unique solutions on how to manage their facilities with less money.

Do you, as Facility Manager, have to work on a significantly reduced budget? Or even worse, are you partnered with a commercial office cleaning company that isn’t getting to the level of cleaning that you need? Partnering with the correct professional office cleaning company will not only help you live with a tight budget, but can consistently deliver a level of service that will keep your facility clean and looking good. So, how can you find the right office cleaning service to keep your facility looking good as you weather increasingly tight budgets?

So Many Choices, So Few Real Competitors

The number of office cleaning companies in Southeast Michigan has skyrocketed since the advent of inexpensive websites and mobile phones. Take, for instance, the one man operations, the mom and pop operations, the small part-time operations, the franchisee, the medium and large local service providers and then the national and multinational cleaning companies. In this packed marketplace, only a few of these companies are going to be the right partner for you and your facility. Just because someone wants your business does not mean that they are up for the level of effort and skill YOUR facility requires. When exploring this expansive market of potential commercial cleaning companies, make sure you get an idea of the scale and type of businesses any commercial cleaning company serves in order to avoid companies that either don’t match your facilities needs or are just poor in quality service delivery.  

Don’t Be Tricked With Math That Just Doesn’t Add Up

A questions that pops up over and over again, are commercial cleaning prices intentionally confusing or does it just stem from a lack of experience in bidding? Fortunately, the answer is, it doesn't matter. As a Facility Manager, you need transparent quotes on your cleaning service to compare the value offered by different service providers. First, it’s important for a commercial cleaning service to take time to analyze your facility up front, so that they can understand the specific requirements. Not only is this a good way to provide better cleaning, it’s the best way to get an accurate estimate. Second, having a clear price instead of some meaningless “estimated” cost means that you will not get charged with hidden fees and other upcharges later. While avoiding estimates that are given off hand may be difficult in the short term, finding a company that takes pricing your facility seriously will always benefit you in the long run.

You Get What You Pay For, Kind Of

When our cleaning budget is razor thin, it can be all to easy to convince ourselves that we need the cheapest office cleaning service available. We all know that cheap cleaning may not be the best cleaning, but it's easy to convince ourselves that we can live with less than good service. But all too often, that attractive low price that met our budget goals just leads to a litany of complaints and other issues that require our time and money. So in accepting a too low price we haven’t solved the problem, just moved and delayed it.

Low commercial cleaning bids are often a sign of a host of issues. Not only does it indicate that the company is likely inexperienced at best, it can also be a sign of inadequate training, cheap ineffective cleaning products and illegal hiring and subcontracting. Companies that lowball bids do ONE thing consistently and that is overpromise and under deliver.That being said, choosing to go for bids that are clearly too high won’t always result in better service. Simply put, choosing a commercial cleaning service solely on their bid won’t result in a good partner. You must look further.

Low Pricing Might Be Symptomatic of Larger Issues

The first thought that should pop in to your head when you see a low bid is “how does this company reduce the price of their service so much?” Like everything else, there is a fixed cost of operation for a janitorial services company that determines about where a bid should be. Any bid that is significantly below the rest is a major red flag. First, there is the hiring of undocumented labor. An undocumented worker is a person working off the payroll or someone that has not supplied the necessary identification to verify their legal status or authorization to work. Second, there can be illegally classified workers who are incorrectly identified as independent contractors. Commercial cleaning companies will do this to avoid having to pay payroll, taxes and other benefits that would normally be given to a legal employee. A company that takes these risky shortcuts isn’t likely to be on top of other things like criminal background checks and complete panel drug screening. Finding one shortcut is often a sign that other shortcuts are being taken behind the scenes.

Best Price Versus Best Value

There is a major and important difference between best price and best value. A cleaning company that provides value is one that gets the work you really need done for a reasonable price. If your facility isn’t receiving the care it needs, it doesn't matter what you are paying for it. Value is where service and price intersect. So, how do you find a company that makes value their number one priority? There are a couple of practices you can follow to find cleaning companies that will deliver results where you need them.

Experience Is A Must

Companies with a solid record of experience are in the best position to help you with your significantly reduced budgets. With experience comes an understanding of what services can be cut down and which are non-negotiable when it comes to making sure your facility is clean. Especially with veteran commercial cleaning companies, it’s likely you're not the first person to come to them with a less helpful cleaning budget. With strategies like Smart Cleaning to new innovations in cleaning technologies, it is possible to maintain the overall quality of your facility while staying in line with even less than ideal budgets. Smart Cleaning means that your office cleaner will focus on areas with high traffic and usage strategically while working less in lower usage areas. This will make sure that areas that are used frequently are always in good condition while those that are not are only touched up every once in a while. Finally, larger, more experienced office cleaning companies are often the best equipped and therefore in the best spot to deliver solid, affordable services while still turning a profit.

Tight Budgets Don’t Mean You Completely Sacrifice Service

Even if you are living with an unenviable low cleaning budget putting so many obstacles in your path you feel like Indiana Jones, you are entitled to a reliable, effective cleaning service. The good news is that the most experienced commercial cleaning companies are in a good place to maximize the cleaning you get for your dollar. When looking at prospective companies, it is important to remember the following. Those janitorial companies that provide a transparent price, quality systems and experience are likely to offer you a solid value and service that doesn’t feel like you aren’t getting what you need.